Pieces
by ception
Summary: Kaneki sacrifices himself to save Tokyo. When he wakes up he finds himself back to where everything began. Will he be able to change the fate set in stone for him? Time Travel AU. Strong Kaneki. Kaneki x Touka
1. Chapter 1: Lucid

He opened his eyes and saw what used to be his home.

Tokyo was in ruins. Not even the screams of panicked civilians could be heard. Everyone was dead.

Everyone was dead because of _him_. All that was left of the great city was debris and corpses.

He did this. He destroyed everything. It was all his fault! He killed everyone. He was a monster, he deserved to-

"Kaneki."

A voice cut him from his thoughts. The voice was familiar. It was sweet, it gave him comfort, it reminded him of…

He immediately looked to source of the voice and found her. She was covered in wounds and scratches, and was holding what appeared to be a bleeding wound on her arm.

"Tou-k-a" His voice sounded like a thousand people speaking at once.

She was crying now. Silent tears continuing to fall down her face as she broke into a smile. Then she started to break down as she repeatedly slammed her fists against his chest.

"I thought you were dead!" She screamed as she kept pounding her fists against him.

He tried to reach out to her, desperate to hold her against his arms but felt his arms bounded to something.

He looked and found himself attached to what was his kagune. A mass of bodies and RC cells all bound together into what seemed to be a massive centipede.

"I-I'm sorry."

She stopped pounding against him now and simply kept her fists against his chest. She was sobbing, not even holding her tears back anymore.

"What happened to you!?" She sounded like she was pleading. Desperate to find any answer to what caused him to be like this.

Memories surged through his mind. Him bloodied and broken in defeat. Him desperately trying to crawl his way to Furata. Him trying to recall the fight. Him losing control seeing only red. Then everything went blank and he was here.

"I-I don't know!" He said horrified as he couldn't recall what happened.

"I'm sorry!" He was breathing rapidly now. All his walls were gone and he was letting himself go.

"This is all my fault isn't it?!" Tear were falling from his eyes now. "I did this! I killed everyone!" He was sobbing. Apologizing over and over again as if it would bring everything back to the way it used to be.

"I'm…" He stopped as he closed his eyes. "I'm a monster."

His thoughts where cut off as he fault soft calming lips against his own.

It was Touka's. She had her hand cupped against his face.

She pulled from the kiss. "You're not a monster."

He looked at her. She had a sad smile on her face, it was the same smile she gave him when he first came into :re.

"You're a good person." She held him close now, he felt her hand wrap around his body so tight it was like she was scared of losing him. "You never belonged to this world."

He stared at her. His wife, pregnant with his child. Alive and well, realizing that it wasn't over for him yet. He still had a duty, he had to protect her, protect _them_.

"But I'm here now." He leaned closer to her, taking in her scent. "I have to protect you two no matter what."

Static caught his hearing. He looked around to find the sound coming from the body of a dead soldier.

 _"R—treat! I re—eat, All sold—rs r-treat. Th—yre going to n-uke it."_

His blood froze, and his eyes widened. If that's true then… A nuke is headed towards Tokyo at this very moment and it was headed straight to his location.

"Touka!" He screamed making her snap her head towards him. "I need you to run as fast as possible and get out of Tokyo!"

"What!?" She screamed back at him. "I can't just leave you here!"

"Get as many people as you can and get them to safety!" He ordered her.

He needed to save her. He needed to save their child. He needed to fix this. And he was desperate to save everyone.

She froze at her spot. Her eyes wide in confusion as she stared at him.

"I just got you back and I can't lose you again!" She pleaded as tears continued to fall from her eyes.

"Didn't you hear me!?" He screamed again. He hated doing this to her. "I told you to go, a nuke is on its way here right now, headed straight towards me!"

Immediately understanding what he meant Touka's eyes widened.

"No!" She screamed. "There has to be another way! You can't keep trying to be the hero Kaneki!"

He gave her a sad smile. "My life has always been a tragedy." His voice was softer now. "But you gave me something to live for. You gave me a reason to be happy."

Suddenly he felt powerful. He felt massive. He felt his entire kagune under his control.

"And that was more than enough for me." He leaned in towards her and kissed her one last time.

He broke of the kiss with tears in his eyes. "Let's name the kid after the manager after all he did for us." He gave her a genuine smile.

"You idiot!" She screamed. "What am I supposed to say when he starts looking for you? For his father!?"

"Tell him I love him. And I'm sorry." He looked at her one last time. Taking in her features. Her lavender hair, her eyes, even the crinkles on her nose.

"I love you Touka." He said as he rose and started to move towards Tokyo bay.

He could hear her scream from behind him. It pained him to keep going knowing he was going to die.

He stared at the destruction before him as he kept going. Desperately keeping his mind focused on the goal. Trying not to hesitate at the sight of the carnage he created.

If he ever survived this he was sure she was going to kill him. For the short time they've been together, all he seemed to cause her was pain.

He wondered how lucky he was to get someone like Touka to be his wife.

He remembered the first time he saw her all those years ago. It was his date with Rize, where it all started.

After he turned into a ghoul, she was the one who saved him, the one who brought him to Anteiku.

How he wished to go back to those days. If only he could turn back time, maybe none of this could have happened.

He wondered where Touka was by now. Hopefully she got to safety, he prayed to whatever God was listening to him to keep her safe.

He felt water against him. He must've reached Tokyo Bay by now. He didn't realize how long he's been moving.

Even as he reached the shore, he kept going. He needed to get as far away from everybody as possible.

Kaneki wondered what would have happened if he never showed up during the Anteiku raid. Maybe he'd be working in Touka's café instead. They'd be at peace and none of this would have happened.

On his last moments he imagined what would have happened if he and Touka started a family. They'd start a café together just like her dream. It would be just like Anteiku, a home for ghouls like him.

He smiled at the thought as fire rained from the sky and everything went black.

* * *

 _Beep_ … _Beep_ … _Beep_. The sound filled his thoughts.

Where was he? Was he dead? He was sure he died back there.

He opened his eyes and white light filled his vision. He looked around and found a nurse staring right at him.

She rushed out of the door for a moment before returning a few moments later.

"Glad to see that you're awake Mr. Kaneki." A voice, a very familiar voice caught his attention. He snapped his head towards the source as his eyes widened as he stared at the eyes of Akihara Kanou.

Where was he?

* * *

 _ **This is my first fanfic so I hoped you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think so i can improve this story.**_

 _ **Thank you!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Again

Kaneki couldn't believe it.

He stared at Akihiro Kanou as he explained what happened to him, and why he was in the hospital. The same madman who started it all, was right in front of him. Anger boiled inside of him and all he wanted to do was to rip the man's head off his shoulders.

Noticing the way Kaneki stared at him, Kanou immediately expressed his concern. "I'm sorry, is there something wrong?" He asked.

Of course there was something wrong, he was a madman without any empathy towards living beings. Kaneki was boiling with rage but tried to calm himself down. There was something very wrong about the situation, it just doesn't make sense. Why would Kanou keep him in here unrestrained?

"How long was I asleep?" Kaneki asked.

The doctor put out a friendly smile which disgusted Kaneki. "Ah of course, my apologies. You've been asleep for well over a week."

A week? How could he have survived that? He looked towards the window as his eyes widened at the sight.

What he saw was Tokyo still in one piece and not in the ruins he caused to it become. The buildings weren't scattered rubble and there where people walking among the busy streets. There was no possible way for Tokyo to be the same way it used to be after what he _did._

"Mr. Kaneki." He ignored the voice as he stared at the calendar right next to him.

September 2012. His eyes widened as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was no possible way for him to be where he is, 6 years into the past.

He snapped his head towards the doctor. "What year is it?" He asked with serious eyes.

Kanou looked bewildered at his question but answered it anyways. "It's the year 2012."

That's just not possible. Kanou must be playing some sort of trick. Everything must have to be a lie. This isn't real, it's just not possible.

"You must be in a state of shock, perhaps you'd like some time to think?" Kanou interjected.

"Yes please." Kaneki didn't hesitate to answer, and they simply nodded their heads and stepped out of the room.

He sat there thinking. How could any of this be happening right now? Could he be dreaming? Was he dead? Where was Touka? Does this mean everyone could still be alive?

Could he have possibly dreamt the entire thing? But that would be impossible. You can't just make up an entire 6 years of your life!

His thoughts were racing. His judgement of reality started to crumble. The more he thought about it the more insane and bewildered his thoughts became.

He gripped the sides of his head as it started to ache. His heart rate was getting faster as his thoughts made his chest heavy with paranoia. He was starting to panic when suddenly a knock on his door was heard a nurse came in with a tray of food.

"What's got you so troubled?" Immediately his blood froze as he heard the voice.

 _It couldn't be._ He was gone. He's been gone for a long time. This can't be real. That couldn't possibly be _him_.

Then he saw him. He saw him wearing the same pair of headphones around his neck. That same mop of dirty blonde hair.

"Hide…" Kaneki's voice trailed off not believing what he was seeing.

Hide gave him a dumbfounded look. "What's going on Kaneki? You looked like you've seen a ghost."

Oh, if only he knew what he was saying.

Kaneki stared at Hide, not even daring to blink fearing he'd fade away if he did so. He stared at him until he was close enough. He stared unblinking and gave Hide a long hard look.

"Woah, Kaneki what's goin-" Hide's words were cut off as Kaneki wrapped him in a bearlike hug.

He didn't disappear when Kaneki touched him. _He was real_ he thought not believing the possibility. _He was real_ he told himself over and over again.

Tears started to form around his eyes. If Hide was alive then that must mean everyone else was too.

When Kaneki let go of Hide, the nurse placed the food tray on his bed. It was the usual hospital food: Miso soup, Tofu, and rice.

He gulped at the sight. Staring at the meal filled him with nervousness. If he really was back, then that would mean Kanou successfully transplanted Rize's kakuhou into him. Then that meant the food was going to taste like-

He gulped one last time and noticed Kanou entering the room as if to study him. _That sneaky bastard_ Kaneki thought as he grabbed his chopsticks and took a mouthful of rice before placing it into his mouth.

It tasted like shit. Regardless, he chewed it and swallowed just to mess Kanou. Before he took in some of the tofu and the miso soup just to check if it all tasted horrible, to which it did.

He noticed the look of worry on Kanou's face as he pretended to eat his meal. He smirked to himself but later told the nurse that he was full and couldn't eat anymore. As much as he wanted to mess with Kanou even more, he didn't want to vomit right in front of his best friend.

When Kanou and the nurse left, Hide gave Kaneki a teasing smile. "So, Kaneki mind telling me what that was about? I mean I don't mind it but don't tell me you suddenly have a thing for me or something." He said cheekily.

Kaneki shook his head. "Don't push it." He smirked. His heart already belonged to someone else.

* * *

He was discharged a few days later and Kaneki was glad.

He was starting to hate pretending to eat the food the hospital was giving to him. Everytime he ate something, Kanou seemed to be around watching him. As soon as they allowed him to use the bathroom he didn't hesitate to throw everything up.

Hide accompanied Kaneki home from the hospital. When the two got to his doorstep, Hide apologized saying he needed to get homework done to which Kaneki simply gave him a smile and thanked him for everything he's done.

On his way home he observed his surroundings. Everything looked the way it used to be. He even felt a sense of nostalgia going through the same yet different streets.

He sat down and pondered about his situation. He really was back in time. That meant he possessed knowledge of future events. He had the power to change the future. _To save everyone_. But how sure is he that everything he knew wasn't just a dream.

What if everything was a dream he made up while he was temporarily comatosed? The thought still scared him. That the life he had for 6 years was all but an illusion he made up. But it seemed impossible to have a dream that long with that much detail.

He needed proof. He needed to see if events from his 'dream' matched up to the events in this timeline.

In the end whether or not it was a dream or the future, this time around he wouldn't be as weak as he was. He wouldn't be powerless. This time around he would be stronger.

He stood up from his bed and went straight to the bathroom. There he stared right in front of the mirror.

He looked the way he used to be. He was scrawny, his hair was still jet black, and well, he looked like the way used to be, a nerd.

He closed his eyes. Focusing on his left eye. And suddenly he felt something awaken inside of him. He felt stronger, his instincts sharper, and he could even smell the air better.

He opened his eyes and stared at his reflection. The pupil on his left eye was crimson red, and the sclera was black. He realized that this time he was able to control his kakugan.

That confirmed that Kanou's experiment on him was still a success. That meant Rize was kept hidden away somewhere, being used to harvest her organs for his twisted experiments. He needed to find her and rescue her.

He then looked down and realized he was in no shape to be fighting. He was still to scrawny and he doubted that even with his knowledge on martial arts, he would still be physically unfit to do most of what he might or used to have done.

Then suddenly he felt his stomach grumble. _This isn't good_ , he hasn't properly eaten in atleast 2 weeks and he needed to find food fast.

Fortunately, he knew the perfect place to go to. He put on his shoes and put on his hoodie as he stepped out into the streets of the 20th ward.

The 20th ward looked as peaceful as it used to be. There were barely any doves in sight as the amount of ghoul incidents were low. He had to admit he missed this. Even if he wasn't sure if his memories were real, they felt real enough for him to get nostalgic about the place he might have used to live in.

Suddenly images of hundreds of ghouls and investigators filled his thoughts. Their bloody corpses tainting the snow filled streets with red. He closed his eyes and shook the thought away. If his memories were real then he couldn't let _that_ ever happen.

As he was wondering towards the streets he overheard a drunken voice. "Let's have some fun miss!"

"Wait!" He heard the girl shout.

Kaneki bolted into action and found the source of the noise along a dark alley. A tall blubbery man was harassing what seemed to be a teenage girl. He couldn't see her clearly from the man's large figure but that didn't matter.

He immediately sprinted towards the man and tackled him to the ground, not giving him a chance Kaneki kicked the man in the head knocking him unconscious.

"Thanks, but I could've handled that myself." He froze

That voice. He would never forget that voice.

 _"_ _You pretend to care about other people but in the end, it's all about you!"_ He remembered.

 _"_ _Don't ever come back to Anteiku!"_ He could never forget that voice.

 _"_ _Kaneki...Kaneki, I'll see you later, okay?"_

He turned around and saw lavender.

* * *

 _ **And that wraps up the second chapter. Thank you for all your reviews! I didn't expect any attention to come around that fast. I don't know what date Tokyo Ghoul was set on so I just assumed it was sent on its release date, 2012.**_

 _ **I'm not sure how replying to reviews work so I'll just assume my own format.**_

 _ **EachSoul: I have actually, I had a highschool DXD phase for awhile. Thank you! I'm not sure if I can compete with that yet though.**_

 _ **Eliphas-Chaos: I hope you're a fan of tragedies mate. Just Kiddin!(or am i?)**_

 _ **Nilyak & Shinichi's Lover: I had no idea it would make anyone tear up like that, but I'm inspired to know that I can impact your emotions like that. I'll try not to dissapoint.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Nostalgia

He stood there frozen as he stared at her.

"Touka…" He whispered, his voice audible enough for only him to hear.

His heart skipped several beats. He thought he would never be able to see her again. But here she was, right in front of him.

She was wearing one of her tomboyish street clothes. Her hair was in its usual bob covering the right side of her face. She still looked as beautiful as he remembered her to be.

He was speechless, and at the same time his heart ached. It took everything to stop himself from just walking up to her and holding her in his arms. It hurt him but he knew that the Touka right in front of him did not know who he was.

"Is there something on my face?" She snapped him out of his trance and he steadied himself.

"No…" He shook his head and gave her a sad smile. "You just reminded me of someone I used to know."

This seemed to interest her a bit. "Oh?" She raised her eyebrow. "And who might you be comparing me to?"

He pondered for a second. Being careful not to reveal anything. "Someone who gave me a reason to live."

"I see." She said, choosing not to push the topic.

Kaneki then looked at the lying form of the drunken man. His blood boiled realizing what this man was just about to do to Touka.

"So, what should we do with him? Call the cops?" Kaneki asked her.

Touka simply shrugged. "Nah, he probably won't remember this in the morning anyways."

She then stepped over the man, kicking him hard in the ribs in the process. Kaneki swore he heard something break. She was as ruthless as he remembered her to be.

"Well as much as I'd like to thank you for helping me with-" She turned around and kicked the man one last time. Ruthless. "-this. I have to head home since I still have to wake up early."

She started to walk away and Kaneki reached out for her grabbing her wrist. "Wait!"

She turned around and he saw the look on her eyes as she glared at him. "What do you want?! Just because you helped me doesn't mean I owe you anything!" She said with ice in her tone.

Kaneki sighed. This wasn't the same Touka as he used to know. He may remember all the things they went through together. But she didn't, he was a stranger to her.

"You work at Anteiku right?" All he got from her was a raised eyebrow.

He blinked as he activated his lone kakugan, startling Touka as she widened her eyes in surprise. "I haven't eaten in a long while and I was hoping to get food. But it looks like it's way past store hours."

Touka, snapping out of her stasis stared at Kaneki's lone kakugan with a look of horror and curiosity. "You're eye…" She paused steadying herself. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's…" He trailed off not knowing how to explain to her. "It's a long story."

"I've got the time."

Kaneki merely gave her a teasing grin. "I thought you had to go home?"

Touka narrowed her eyes at Kaneki. "Well that was before I knew you were a ghoul." She took his hand and dragged him to the street. "A hungry ghoul is dangerous, so just this once I'm bringing you into the shop, so you could ask the manager for help."

Kaneki stared dumbfounded at her for a moment letting her drag him towards the café without question before giving her a smile. Behind her cold and harsh attitude, Touka only had good intentions in her heart. "Thank you."

Touka ignored this as she let go of Kaneki's hand which disappointed him. He followed her along the street until they reached Anteiku.

Kaneki's heart was once again filled with nostalgia. The building was still in once piece. It's plain and pleasant appearance never stopped making Kaneki feel like he was home.

Flashes of fire and corpses littering the street flashed through Kaneki's mind and he winced at the memory.

"Something wrong?" Touka asked him as she unlocked the backdoor of the café.

"It's nothing." He responded.

 _I promise I won't let that ever happen._ He told himself as he entered Anteiku.

When Touka turned on the lights he saw that the place looked the same way as he remembered it to be. Suddenly a feeling of comfort rushed through Kaneki's chest which was later replaced with dread as he remembered what would soon happen to the place he called home.

After the raid on Aogiri he left Anteiku, believing that he needed to get stronger in order to protect his friends. Which turned out to be in vein as in the end, the manager still fell, he was captured by the CCG, and the place burnt to the ground.

If his memory really were true then this time around, he wouldn't let any of that happen. He swore it to himself.

A few moments later Kaneki heard footsteps as the manager came down holding an empty cup of coffee. "Touka, it's good to know that you've come home I was just about to bring this down."

Despite knowing this Kaneki couldn't hold back his remark with his years as Haise engrained into him. "Wait, you live here?" To which Touka responded with a glare.

The manager then focused his attention unto Kaneki his kind and gentle smile not wavering. "And who might you be young man?"

"I'm…" He paused for a minute, not believing that he was once again talking to the manager after so long. "Ken Kaneki, sir." He wasn't used to being a stranger to the people he once called his family, but atleast he was given a chance to see them again.

"And what might you be doing here at this hour?" The manager asked.

"I found him wandering the streets at night on his way here." Touka responded for him. Missing some _minor_ details in her explanation. "And…" She trailed off. "You might want to _check_ on him."

Even among ghouls, the idea of a half-ghoul was rare. The only recent one before him was the Manager's daughter herself. So, it wasn't a surprise to Kaneki when the manager dropped the cup of coffee he was holding when Kaneki activated his lone kakugan, and asked Kaneki to come upstairs to the storage room shortly after.

When they entered he gestured Kaneki to take a seat and asked. "Would you mind telling me what's wrong with your eyes?" He asked cutting straight into the topic.

Kaneki pondered for a moment. Debating to himself unto wether or not he should tell the manager about his memories.

This was the manager he was speaking to, he knew he could trust him but he couldn't tell him everything, atleast not yet. So Kaneki told him the same story he did before, beginning with his date with Rize, to the beams collapsing on them, and to his surgery.

"I knew I've seen you before!" Touka exclaimed. "You were that guy with Rize…" She trailed off for a moment. "I didn't realize it was possible, even now it's hard to believe."

"But wait." She said as she narrowed her eyes at him. "How did you know I was a ghoul? How did you know about what Anteiku was?"

He could feel the tension in the air. He didn't realize how he missed this one major detail. He needed to think of an excuse fast or he was going to seem suspicious.

"W-when I was… having a break down realizing I couldn't eat any of the food I was eating." He tried to sound vulnerable. "I saw a ghoul eating and he told me to go away. Then he asked if I was new here. And he just told me to go to Anteiku. Then I found you."

The manager didn't look convinced but believed it anyways. "I see. I never realized it was possible to create an artificial ghoul. But I've met a half-ghoul once…" He trailed off for a moment. "I suppose in this world, anything is possible."

He then gave Kaneki a stern look. "What do you plan to do now?"

"Well…" Kaneki thought for a moment. "I was hoping that maybe I could find a job here? I mean, I don't really know what to do with my situation. And that maybe you could help me?" He pleaded.

The manager didn't respond for a few moments before giving Kaneki a smile. "I suppose we could find you a place here. After all, Anteiku accepts anyone, especially the ones in need."

Kaneki's eyes lit up. "Thank you!" No matter what, the manager was always kind towards people, both ghoul and human.

He was slowly starting to believe that he really went back in time. All his memories so far seem to be matching with his present reality.

The manager then stood up and walked towards the closet, to which he pulled out a jar of sugar cubes. And brought it to Kaneki.

"You must not ever let yourself feel hunger. As a ghoul you may be able to survive without food for a month or two. But when a ghoul feels hunger, they will start to go into a frenzy and devour anything in order to satisfy their hunger." He then handed Kaneki two sugar cubes.

"Ghouls are only able to consume human flesh, as our body can only metabolize it. Attempting to eat anything else would taste horrible and would not be digested by our bodies. Although…" He paused and gestured for Kaneki to eat the sugar cubes. "We are able to consume coffee for some strange reason."

The sugar cubes tasted amazing and Kaneki felt his hunger deplete albeit only slightly. It was still enough for him to lose the hungry sensation. "Why am I able to eat this then?" Kaneki knew why. As The sugar cubes were soaked in human blood.

"I don't think you'd want to find out." The manager responded.

The manager then placed the jar back into the closet. "Well Kaneki, It's getting late and you might want to head home soon."

Kaneki gave the manager another smile. "Thank you for everything."

"No worries, it's what we of Anteiku do to people in need." He paused and placed a hand on Kaneki's shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Kaneki was on his way to Anteiku having just went out of Kami University.

Hide was surprised to see his best friend show up in their literature class after being gone for so long. He merely told the blonde that he wanted to surprise him.

His classmates all congratulated him on his recovery to which he shrugged off. Noone in his class never really bothered to talk to him, and the only reason they gave him attention was because he was in the news headline for a few weeks.

His professor excused him from the test they were going to have that day and merely left him with homework to catch up from his absence. Apparently, they had a test on Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis. _Ironic_ he thought to himself as their current topic reflected on his situation coincidently.

On his way to Anteiku he noticed the bookstore forming a line outside, which was rare. When he came close enough, his eyes widened at the sign imbedded right next to the entrance: _Sen Takatsuki signing today!_

He immediately searched his bag and took out his copy of _Black Goat's Egg_ and stood in line, waiting to meet the author.

He didn't know why he was doing this. He didn't even know why he was here. He just felt like there was something he needed to say to Eto.

Then he remembered the last words the manager gave Kaneki before he faced off Arima. _Take care of her_. He was supposed to take care of Eto but he failed, In the end she fell to Furuta, leaving him with the promise to take out the One Eyed King, to which he did shortly after.

"Next please." He heard a voice say.

The infamous One-eyed Owl sat before him looking as harmless a she appeared to be. She was wearing baggy clothing, her hair was in a curled green mess, and she was wearing round spectacles. If it really wasn't for her public announcement, then there would be no way you'd ever think she'd be the Owl.

"To whom do I write this to?" She asked.

"Ken Kaneki." He responded as she started to sign his book.

He held his copy of Black Goat's Egg and placed it on the table in front of her. "I'm a big fan of your work." He said with a fake smile.

This caused Eto to give Kaneki a smile. "Is this one of your favorites in my works?"

"Yeah…" He paused and looked at the book. "I like how it implies on how no matter what you do, you can't really change who you are. And how it's a losing battle to fight with your own nature. Kind of speaks a lot about our society."

Eto raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "And would this be?"

"Ghouls and humans." This made Eto give Kaneki a look of surprise. "It's the nature of ghouls to eat and consume humans as it is their only source of nutrients. No matter how hard they try to blend into society, sometimes even as far as suppressing their urges, in the end they're still ghouls, and ghouls _have_ to eat human flesh to survive."

"My, my." She then took out a business card and handed it to Kaneki. "I've never met someone who viewed my book in that sense. Maybe we should talk sometime, your ideas are quite motivating you see." She gave him a smile.

"I don't think I can deny lunch with my favorite writer." He smiled as he took the card and stuffed it into his pocket.

In the end, Eto was going to martyr herself and he couldn't let that happen. Not after his promise to the manager.

"I'll be seeing you soon then." Eto gave Kaneki one last smile before calling unto the next person in line.

He could already tell that from this moment on, things would be different.

* * *

 _ **I'll try to be as consistent with updates as much as I can. Attempting to update on a daily basis might be hard to keep up in the future, so I can't make any promises. As you can tell, the plot is starting to differ from the original. I already have ideas on how I'm going to sequence this fic but if any of you have any good ideas then you're welcome to leave it as a review! And to the few amazing people who's left a review! I didn't expect this plot to get nearly 300 views already!**_

 _ **Shinichi's Lover: Thank you for teaching me the science of the review section. I'll be responding to reviews there now and this would be the last time I'd be doing it here. To answer your question, because cliffhangers.**_

 _ **EachSoul: That is something I can't promise.**_

 _ **Crimson 212 & It's Hawx: Thank you for reading and following! And I hope I did get your love after updating only 1 hour after your review.**_

 _ **Next chapter would be introducing Nishiki.**_


	4. Chapter 4: Metamorphosis

"Thank you very much!" Kaneki greeted their last customer as he left the café.

He just finished his first day working at Anteiku and needless to say, he left the manager quite the good impression.

"My, my, Kaneki-kun, I can't say I'm not impressed with how well you worked today. Are you sure this is the first time you've worked in a café?" The manager, who was polishing an empty cup asked him.

Kaneki merely scratched the back of his head cheekily. "I think I did alright." He then looked at Touka. "But I'm nowhere near as good as Touka when it comes to making coffee."

Touka gave Kaneki a glare and went back to sweeping the floor. The manager chuckled at the scene, "I will have to agree with you on that one."

After cleaning up the café, the manager congratulated the both of them on a job well done before going back upstairs, leaving Kaneki and Touka alone.

"How long have you been working here?" Kaneki tried starting a conversation.

Touka glared at Kaneki for a few moments. "Ever since I started junior high."

Speaking with Touka, no matter how small their conversation was, always sparked a sense of nostalgia deep inside him. It made him remember her more and more from his memories. It pained him to have Touka talk to him like a total stranger despite all the hardships they went through together in his memories. But they were merely _his_ memories. It did have its perks though, like knowing things Touka wouldn't tell someone who hasn't gotten past her walls.

He knew that Touka was the type of ghoul who would try her very best to blend into human society. She wanted to live the life of a human; she never wanted to live the fugitive-like life she had because she was born a ghoul. And she loathed Kaneki when they first met because he had the chance to live as a human, despite being turned into a ghoul.

That's why he knew how she would react with his next question. "What university would you like to go to when you graduate?"

She was taken aback by this. Most ghouls wouldn't even attempt to go to a school let alone a university. It was simply too difficult for them to blend into their community without being suspicious. That's why he admired how hard Touka worked into blending with humans.

She blinked for a few more moments before steadying herself. "Kamii..." She trailed off. "I wanted to go to Kamii University, here in the 20th ward."

He smiled at her. And was saddened at the same time. Because of the raid at Anteiku, she was never able to go there, but, at the very least, she fulfilled her dream of opening up a cafe. "Well I happen to be a freshman studying Japanese literature there."

This caused Touka to unconsciously step closer to him. "How is it there?! Are the entrance exams really that hard?"

Touka never told him the real reason why she wanted to go to Kamii of all places. But he figured it was because it was the only university close to Anteiku.

"Ah, well..." He placed a hand at the back of his head. "It's really great there. The facilities are amazing, and the profs are really interesting too. I'm sure if you study hard enough, you'll be able to go there."

Touka frowned at this. "Well, that sucks."

"Hey you're in your what..." He pretended to guess. "Second-year of high school?" Touka nodded.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, which startled Touka. "You'll cross that bridge when you get there. You still have a year left before entrance exams, and when the time comes I'll even teach ya." He gave her a cheeky smile.

Touka smiled at him. "You're something else, Kaneki." Without losing her smile she started to glare at him, looking sinister. "Now I'd advice you to let go before I break your hand."

 _Scary,_ he thought to himself. He sighed and let go. _I guess some things never change._ "Sorry, about that Touka-chan." Immediately realizing what he did he widened his eyes and prepared himself for the blow.

He swore he saw Touka's cheeks turn rosy for a moment before he felt a boot hit his stomach.

* * *

It was late at night and Kaneki groaned as he held the swelling abdomen he received from Touka's kick earlier.

 _That woman was always stronger than she looked,_ he thought to himself as he groaned in pain. Eventually, the feeling started to subside and he sighed to himself.

He made progress on his relationship with Touka. It wasn't the same one they had but it was getting better. He still had a lot of time, so he didn't find the need to rush it. Relationships like that took time and hardships to develop – time and hardships he was willing to go through.

He sighed to himself. It was going to be a long journey for him. The fact that he knew things that were yet to happen made him feel like he was cheating life. He wondered if there was a lottery combination he recalled from the future that he could use today.

Among all the wards in Tokyo, the 20th ward was his favorite. Even after the raid at Anteiku, the place remained peaceful, albeit less, after the manger passed, but it remained to be one of the most dormant wards in Tokyo – until Furuta took over the CCG of course.

But being where he was right now, the streets seemed peaceful. It was almost peaceful enough for a human to worry more about being held up by a criminal than being attacked by a ghoul.

He figured it would be a peaceful walk to his house.

That was, until he smelled it.

He immediately bolted to the source. Whatever caught his nose smelled delicious and that didn't mean a lot of good things if you were a ghoul. He didn't know why he started running, he was sure that whatever caught his nose was probably a human being devoured by a ghoul. And he knew he didn't have the right to deny a ghoul its meal, but there was something that didn't feel right.

He ran through the dark alleyway, jumping over fences and dodging dumpsters along the way. He followed his instincts and followed the aroma as it got stronger and stronger until it stopped. He wasn't surprised by what he saw.

Before him was a ghoul feasting on the guts of a dead man. The ghoul seemed to be a middle-aged man with dark hair reaching up to his chin. He remembered the ghoul from a distant memory. Although, that time he went into a frenzy, not being able to control his hunger.

The ghoul, noticing him, stopped his feast and gave Kaneki a murderous glare. "If you don't leave right now I'll kill you!" The ghoul threatened.

Kaneki was just about to say something when suddenly the ghoul's head was kicked off clean from his shoulders.

"Seriously, how about you leeches back away from my hunting grounds?" The voice came from a tall man with hazelnut hair.

 _Nishiki,_ Kaneki thought. Before Kaneki beat him, Nishiki was rude and insensitive – he was basically an asshole. He slowly warmed up to him and stopped killing in order to eat and became a part of Anteiku. But after the raid, he became more ruthless and killed ghouls and humans alike. Both still considered each other friends when he formed Goat. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of his old friend.

Nishiki then noticed Kaneki and glared at him. "Well you're a face I haven't seen around but more importantly..." Kaneki saw this coming but didn't move. "What the hell are you smiling at!?" Nishiki closed the distance and slammed Kaneki into a wall choking him.

Kaneki didn't say anything and frowned. As much as he didn't want to hurt his friend, he knew if he didn't do anything he'd kill him. No matter what Nishiki was to Kaneki, Kaneki was just a stranger to him. Maybe he could find a peaceful way out of this.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" Nishiki said as a single blue tendril sprung from his lower back. "You know what happens when you get caught in someone else's territory right?" The tendril then sharpened as it pointed itself in Kaneki's direction.

Kaneki moved quickly. As Nishiki lifted him off the air, he left himself completely unguarded. He then raised his legs and kicked Nishiki away from him square in the chest making him loose his grip.

Nishiki hit the wall, causing it to slightly crack at the impact. "A lot stronger than you look, huh?" Nishiki coughed as he glared at Kaneki with predatory eyes.

Kaneki readied his stance, preparing for a fight. He didn't release his kagune though, choosing to fight with his bare fists instead, knowing what would happen if he used his kagune too excessively.

"I don't want to fight you." Kaneki said as he raised his hands as a sign of peace. "I just came in at the worst possible time, I had no intention of trespassing your hunting grounds."

"Okay, Imagine this. Your girlfriend is naked and lying on the ground. There's a guy there with his pants down, he turns around and says to you, 'I wasn't doing anything wrong. I just happened to be here.' That's exactly what I'm getting from you right now." He then lunged at Kaneki. Kagune raised, ready to strike. " If it were up to me, I'd blow his damn brains out!"

The old Kaneki would've gotten his ass kicked by now. But he wasn't the old Kaneki anymore. He waited before Nishiki's kagune came in contact with him, then he moved at the last second. Kaneki tilted his body to the right, grabbing Nishiki's shirt. He then twirled, directing all of Nishiki's body weight to the ground.

Nishiki hit the ground hard. Kaneki leaped backwards, distancing himself from Nishiki. God, Nishiki was such an arrogant prick back then. "I could just walk away right now and we can pretend nothing happened between us."

Nishiki ignored this as he stood up and looked at Kaneki with murderous intent. He was just about to lunge at Kaneki when they heard a voice crying.

"D-daddy!?" The voice came from a small girl. She looked to be around 10 years old. Her face was stained with tears, and she looked frightened and horrified at the same time.

Kaneki's eyes widened. _This never happened before!_ He had no recollection of an incident like this ever happening. He then looked at the corpse of the dead man and looked at the little girl. The girl was on her knees, her eyes looked horrified and she looked like she was in a state of shock.

Then he saw Nishiki move. He headed straight for the little girl, intending to kill her.

"Nishiki stop!" He pleaded as he tried to reach out for him.

Nishiki ignored Kaneki's plea and was seconds from reaching the girl. Time slowed down for Kaneki. He was too far; the girl was too close to Nishiki. He wouldn't be able to reach him in time.

He cursed to himself, knowing he only had one option left. "I'm sorry senpai…" Kaneki's kakugan flared as a single red appendage sprung from his back and headed straight for Nishiki.

He hit his target as Nishiki was impaled to the wall, blood splattering out from his mouth as his gut was pierced. Kaneki felt bad for doing this, but Nishiki was about to take a child's life and he couldn't let that happen.

"I-I'll die." Nishiki muttered.

Kaneki immediately withdrew his kagune as it faded away into a mist of crimson. Because his RC levels are much lower than it was, releasing his kagune caused him to feel slightly weaker. He needed to eat proper _food_ soon or he wouldn't be able to keep this up.

Nishiki laid there on the ground, leaning on the now blood stained wall. His hand was clutching his gaping wound.

"Stay there, I'm coming back for you." He ordered Nishiki as he approached the young girl who was lying on the ground.

 _She must have fainted_ , he thought to himself. He then scooped her up and carried her over his back. He stared at the corpse of the man that he presumed to be her father. A feeling of sadness rushed through Kaneki as he looked back to the unconscious young girl.

She was just another victim of this crazy, fucked up world. He didn't know why she was here. He recalled the event in his memories but she never came into the picture. Maybe in his memory she was already dead or was she was hiding somewhere and he didn't notice.

Maybe some things have already changed, and this was one of them.

With the girl still over his shoulder, Kaneki ran. It was late at night so the streets were close to empty. He needed to get her to the police station, but he needed to get there without alerting any authorities.

Once he reached his destination, he gently placed the girl along the staircase leading to the police station, while no one was looking. He then took out a pastry he got from Anteiku which he meant to give to Hide from his bag and placed it on the girl's hands.

He had to admit that he was tired. His body wasn't used to this much exercise and he knew he needed to start getting into shape. If it weren't for his ghoul physiology he would have collapsed halfway.

He then left the girl looking back in pity one more time and ran back to where he left Nishiki.

In the world they lived in, people, ghoul and humans alike, children especially were victims to whatever messed up system ran their world. Mankind feared ghouls. They were the monsters in horror movies, the boogeymen in children's bedtime stories, and the ones blamed for everything in this world. But he knew after all these years that it went both ways.

As he ran, Kaneki started to hear himself pant. He was tired and exhausted, but he needed to get there quick. He stopped running and took a breath when he reached the dark alley.

After settling himself, he walked towards the dimly lit alley. And he clenched his teeth as he found Nishiki gone with only a trail of blood left leading to the darkness.

* * *

 ** _13 reviews already and look at those follows and faves, not bad something that's only been a few days old._ _Thank you to all of those who have reviewed!_**

 ** _I apologize if the pacing seems slow. Things will start to move much faster soon, as these chapters are only the introduction to the fic. Stay tuned and thank you for reading. Expect an update or three along the week!_**


	5. Chapter 5: Mother's love

The room was steamy and the floor was filled with drops of sweat.

"O-one hundred forty-nine…" Kaneki grunted as his back was against the wall, with his hands planted on the ground as he was the final set of his workout.

He's been doing this ever since his encounter with Nishiki. Every morning before starting his day he did several full-body workout routine's to get back into shape. So far he's been consistent in his first few days of starting his work out. Needless to say, his body was sore as his muscles ached not being used to the workload they've been given.

But he had to admit, superhuman regeneration had its perks. His body recovered almost rapidly from the strain he gave his muscles. Allowing him to progress his physique even faster.

"One hundred fifty!" He then allowed himself to stumble unto the ground as he finished his workout. Despite his ghoul physiology, he was still just a man. His muscles ached and he was panting heavily.

He grabbed his bottle of water, immediately taking in its contents. He then looked at the clock and saw that it was only 7:15 which disappointed him. He was meeting Touka at Shinjuku station at 4:30 today, and needless to say he was a tad bit excited at getting to spend time with her.

He already knew where the place was, but he'd never pass the chance to get to spend time with her.

 _(Flashback)_

 _Kaneki placed the cleaned plates back on their cabinet. It was another job well done for Kaneki and he, along with Touka and the manager, were closing down the café._

 _The manager then called Touka, told her something, and she immediately screamed in frustration and pointed a finger at Kaneki._

 _"Why do I have to spend my day off with that guy?!" She said, not holding anything back._

 _His human eye twitched at the insult. "It can't be that bad, can it?"_

 _Touka merely glared at him as the manager spoke up. "Kaneki-kun will get lost if he goes on his own…" His eye twitched again wondering if he looked that innocent and vulnerable. "…And he'll be too scared to go alone with Uta-kun"_

 _Touka sighed in defeat. "That's certainly true…" She paused before speaking once more. "But he doesn't really need a mask that much, does he?"_

 _He wondered if they'd still have the same opinion of him once they find out the things he plans to do._

 _"I heard something from Yomo-kun" The manager said._

 _"Yomo-san?" Touka asked._

 _"That two investigators are here in our ward." Touka's eyes widened in distress at the news. "Thinking of it that way I'd like for him to have one as soon as possible."_

 _Kaneki felt a heavy feeling creep up his chest. If that was true, then those investigators were Amon and Akira's father._

 _Memories of his first encounter with Amon flashed through his mind. He was weaker back then, barely able to fend off Amon with his bare hands. He later found Touka and Hinami injured but alive, the same could not be said for Kureo Mado who was lying in a pool of his own blood. The death of Kureo affected both Amon and Akira greatly. He contemplated on whether or not he should save him this time around._

 _That also meant Ryouko was going to die soon, unless he did something to prevent it._

 _He didn't know how he could keep the both of them alive. His head hurt just thinking of the possibilities._

 _"Kaneki!" Touka screamed at him snapping him out of his thoughts._

 _"What?" he looked at her. She looked annoyed and frustrated at him._

 _"I said you better be at Shinjuku station by 4:30 this Saturday or you're dead." She said as she glared at him._

 _Kaneki sighed, then curved his lips into a sheepish smile. "Okay."_

 _"What the hell are you smiling about." Her glare intensified._

 _"Nothing."_

* * *

He waited at the station for almost 2 hours before Touka arrived.

He leaned against a pillar, occasionally checking his watch for the time. When he sensed something headed his direction and immediately took a step back, avoiding whatever was headed his way.

When he turned around he saw Touka with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Wow… Didn't expect you to dodge that."

Kaneki then gave her a teasing smirk. "You do realize it's almost 5:30 right?"

She glared at him. "I had to finish something before I got here."

He then noticed her clothes looked brand new. "Those look new." He teased.

He noticed her cheeks blush for a few seconds before she tried to hide them with a murderous glare directed at him. "Do you want to die?"

He immediately tensed up and raised his hands in surrender. "Good." She said as she turned around and started walking.

He sighed as he started following her. He had long ways to go with him and Touka. Well atleast this time she communicated with him a lot more than the last time.

As they walked along the streets of the 4th ward, Kaneki couldn't help but stare at Touka. Even as a teenager, she looked very attractive. He wasn't the only one who thought this way as he noticed her turn heads from men and some women alike.

Even in plain clothes, Touka's natural beauty radiated. On another person's point of view, Touka would seem like a normal girl, easily blending in with everybody else.

"What!?" She then stopped walking and stared at Kaneki in annoyance.

"Just wondering how many guys have tried asking you out on a date, before you knocked them hard into the ground." Kaneki said casually.

Touka then looked up with an evident blush forming on her cheeks. "Why do you care?"

Kaneki shrugged. "Just answering you."

Touka didn't bother answering him and continued walking. He sighed once more at his failed attempt at flirting. _Maybe that just isn't my thing_ , he thought to himself.

It took them a few more minutes of walking, going deeper and deeper into the 4th ward, before reaching their destination.

He looked at the store before him. The place gave him a feeling of nostalgia. This was the place where he got his mask. And the place where he first met Uta.

After the Anteiku raid, he never saw Uta again. That was until he visited this place as Haise Sasaki during to get masks for the Q's.

"HySy ArtMask Studio." Kaneki whistled. "Looks shady."

Touka ignored this and knocked on the door before heading inside along with Kaneki. The place had masks hanging on the walls, along with some masks under display on glass cases. Honestly, Kaneki wondered why the CCG never once suspected this place.

"Uta-san? Are you here?" Touka said as the place seemed empty.

She then looked around for a couple more minutes. "I guess he already went home." She said disappointingly.

Kaneki then approached the white cloth draped over something. Knowing what was hidden he then removed it.

"Boo." Uta said attempting to scare Kaneki to which Kaneki only blinked at him.

Uta looked the same as the last time he saw him. Tall, Lanky, Black hair styled into an undercut, piercings, and tattoos. His most notable trait was his black eyes, which he knew were injected with ink.

He always thought Uta looked pretty terrifying at first. But eventually he started to think he was pretty cool. He had his own personality, and he wasn't afraid to dress different than everybody else despite the looks people gave him. But that didn'

"What are you doing?" Touka said as she finally noticed Uta.

"I thought I'd try to scare him. Too bad though." Uta replied.

Uta then stood up and walked towards the workbench and sat down. "Uta-san is the person who makes the ghoul masks." Touka said.

"I'm Uta."

Kaneki smiled. "I'm Kaneki, nice to meet you Uta-san."

Ita then looked around Kaneki, studying him. "Your scent is unusual."

Kaneki then scratched the back of his head and gave Uta a sheepish smile. "Well I've been told."

Uta then looked at Touka. "This guy needs a mask doesn't he, Touka-san?"

"Yeah…" Touka paused. "As do I. We all have to be cautious for now. Seems police investigators have been loitering around. I heard they found Renji-kun too"

"Yeah… Yomo-san said so. Did you hear about that from the manager?" Uta asked Touka.

"Yeah…."

"But usually, those people tend to leave the 20th ward alone since it's docile…" Uta then trailed off thinking for a moment. "As expected it was due to Rize's influence. If that's the case, then that woman really was the worst."

Rize… That woman started it all. Despite the hardships he gave her he couldn't bring himself to hate her.

"I think the 20th ward is docile because of the manager and Anteiku." Kaneki said causing Uta and Touka to look at him.

"And why would you say that?" Uta asked.

Kaneki contemplated for a moment. Being careful not to mention any piece of information he has yet to know of. "Well I've been living in the 20th ward my whole life. And I rarely see any incidents with ghouls and humans." He paused for a moment thinking. "And when I was turned into a ghoul… Touka and the manager helped me, I think any other person left me to my own devices. I guess the 20th ward is an example of a way for ghouls and humans to live together"

Touka and Uta gave Kaneki a surprised expression. Then Uta smiled at him. "I guess you're right about that." He then pointed at the seat next to him. "Sit down, I'm going to measure you."

Uta then started asking Kaneki questions as he measured his face. Later telling him than he needed to be motivated as he worked on each mask.

Uta then finished and Kaneki noticed one piece of information he forgot to give. "Uta-san." He called out.

"Yes? Anything you'd like to add up?"

"Yeah actually." He then pointed to his eye and activated his kakugan, to which Touka didn't fail to notice. "How about an eyepatch on my other eye? I don't think it would be good for me if people knew that there was a one-eyed ghoul going around."

Uta gaped at this and admired his eye. "Incredible…" He looked closer to his eye. "I didn't know that there was another one-eyed ghoul."

Uta then stood up seeming excited. "That settles it. I'm quite motivated to work on your mask now. After I finish the mask, I'll send it to Anteiku."

"Thank you Uta-san."

Kaneki and Touka then said their goodbyes and left the shop. It was night time now, and they were making their way to the train station.

"Hey you." Touka said startling Kaneki. "What was that thing you said about 'Anteiku being the reason why the 20th ward was docile' crap?"

"Well I just thought you guys probably helped a lot of ghouls in the 20th ward." He then looked at Touka. "If the 20th ward was so peaceful then how do you manage to get _food_?" He asked knowing the answer.

"Oh…" She trailed off. "Well the manager makes us scavenge for dead bodies, usually the bodies of people who commit suicide." She explained.

"I see…" Kaneki thought for moment, thinking of something to continue with. "How come they never wonder where the bodies go?"

"That's because Anteiku disposes of all the evidence." She said bluntly.

"Isn't it difficult though? Compared to what other ghouls do."

"Yeah but the manager encourages us to do it." He then noticed Touka's arm tense a bit. "I admit it's difficult. Sometimes we go home without anything, but it's the only way those insane fuckers to leave us alone."

"Well you know what I think?" Touka then looked at him with curiosity. "In a world like ours, any ways to find peace is difficult. Heck most of the time it's in vein. But if there were more people like the people from Anteiku, I think a world where ghouls and humans can co-exist can happen."

Touka gave him a look of surprise and understanding before smiling. "You know, I have to admit, I'm starting to like you more each day."

Kaneki couldn't stop his heart from fluttering as he heard this and smiled. "Does that mean I get to call you Touka-chan." He teased.

"Only if I get to kick your ass right after."

* * *

A black car pulled over as a man stepped out of it. The man was well-built and had silver hair. He was wearing a long overcoat and seemed to have a stone-like glare plastered on his face.

"Good evening Yomo-san." He greeted him. "I'm here in place of Touka."

Yomo's face remained unchanging. "I've already heard about it." He then opened up the door to the passenger seat. "Hurry up and get in."

Yomo seemed as distant and cold as he was when Kaneki first met him. It was still nostalgic though. He probably had to get used to the feeling as he had yet to encounter more people later on.

Yomo was his guide, and he couldn't hide his surprise when he found out that he's been watching him all this time. As time went on he started to look up to him as his elder brother during his time as a ghoul.

The trip was silent to say the least. He knew Yomo enough to know he was comfortable in silence and he respected that.

They soon pulled over a high cliff, parking right next to another car. Kaneki remembered this. He remembered falling off like an idiot, which fortunately for them, made them find the corpse lying below.

He looked over the cliff. "I think I see something." He then leaned in a little more to look closer.

"Oi… That part's bro-" Yomo was cut off as Kaneki jumped straight down the cliff.

Kaneki rolled off to distribute his impact along his body to soften his fall. He then looked towards the ground and found what he was looking for.

It was a corpse. The man looked to be around the age of 40, and he seemed to be wearing his office uniform. His corpse looked fresh, and the body radiated an enticing aroma as it crept through his nose.

He then felt a small pang of hunger creep up into him. He really needed to eat a proper _meal_ soon.

He heard footsteps behind him and figured Yomo followed. "For someone who used to be human you're pretty fearless huh?" He said rhetorically.

Yomo then looked at the body. "There was another car parked up top wasn't there? It probably belonged to this human." He paused for a second. "Many people die here of their own free will."

"And Anteiku goes to these places to dispose of the bodies as food right?" Kaneki said causing Yomo to look at him.

"How did you know that?" Yomo asked.

"Touka told me."

"I see…" He then grabbed the black bag they brought along. "Put it in here, the stuff I hand you from _his_ body."

If Kaneki was what he used to be around this time. He would've immediately disagreed, too horrified to do so. But he wasn't that Kaneki anymore, he's done far worse for things like this to unfazed him.

Yomo gave the corpse a silent prayer before grabbing his _tools_.

Once Yomo was done. He and Kaneki both climbed back up the cliff and went back to the car.

"I'm surprised." Yomo said. "One would've thought you would've been reluctant earlier."

"I guess…" Kaneki trailed off. "I accepted my new life."

"Already?" He asked with surprise in his tone despite his face unchanging.

"Nothing's going to change me from being back to a normal human being." He then looked at the full moon. "But I'm not just a ghoul, I'm also a man. I'm a grey line, it's difficult but… I see my existence as a proof that ghouls and humans can co-exist."

At this Yomo had a look of surprise evident on his face. "That's a lot to think about yourself in the few weeks you've been a ghoul."

"You could say I think about it all the time." He said as they entered the car.

They drove off for a few minutes until they reached a small neighborhood and stopped the car.

Kaneki watched as Yomo stepped out of the vehicle and approached a woman. Kaneki looked closer and saw the face of Ryouko Fueguchi.

A feeling of anxiety swooped over him, reminding him of her soon to be fate. He still needed to find a way to save her and he didn't know how.

He realized that the only way he could possibly save her without harming Amon and Mado was for Ryouka to constantly run for her life. At this point they probably know she was a ghoul, and she could no longer hide from them.

He could stop Mado, but that he would always come back for with more doves to tag along. And if he killed him, then everything would end up the way it was.

He gripped his hands in frustration. He didn't know how to stop the events from unfolding, and maybe he couldn't. All he knew was he only had a few more days before Mado finds Ryouko and Hinami.

"Kaneki-kun?" His voice was cut off as Ryouko called him.

"Fuegechi-san, good evening."

"Good Evening, sorry to intrude." She then opened the door and sat down at the back seat.

All he knew was he needed to find a way to save her, and he needed to do it fast.

* * *

Kaneki collapsed to the floor, exhausted and drenched in sweat from his workout. He was really pushing himself to his very limits, only stopping when he couldn't move anymore.

He lay there panting. His clothes drenched with sweat, and the room feeling a lot more humid than it did hours earlier. He then sat up and grab the face towel right next to him to wipe away the sweat.

 _This isn't enough_ , he thought to himself. He needed to practice his moves. He needed to see if he was still capable of fighting like he used to.

So later on, before his shift at Anteiku, he approached Touka.

"Uhm… Touka?" He said as she turned around to face him.

"What do you want?"

He then sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I was wondering if you could perhaps spar with you?"

She looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. "Spar with you?"

"Yeah…"

Her mouth then curved into a mocking smirk. "You're kidding right?"

"Nope."

She then looked at him for a few moments before shaking her head. "You're something else you know that?" Her eyes then narrowed as her lips curved upwards predatorily. "Fine. After our shift, hope you have an extra set of clothes." She turned around almost proceeding to the counter before stopping. "And try not to regret it later."

After they closed up the shop and the manager headed upstairs Touka walked towards the door right next to staircase and unlocked it with here keys.

"In here." She gestured him to follow.

Once inside, they walked along a hallway leading to the basement before stopping at a hidden door. "Down here" She said before jumping down below.

He then followed her shortly after and once down he noticed the place was pitch black. He heard the sound of footsteps echoing before the lights turned on, which briefly blinded Kaneki for a moment.

"This is an underground pathway." Touka started explaining. "A path the Tokyo ghouls made long ago in order to hide themselves from the humans."

The Tokyo Ghouls… He wondered how they would react if they found out that there was an underground city hidden along the pathways.

"It goes even deeper passed this hall. If you went alone, you'd get lost and wouldn't be able to get back here a second time." She continued.

"But what does it lead to?" Kaneki asked.

Touka then pondered for a minute. "I don't know." She then stripped off the top of her uniform leaving behind a white tank top barely hiding her skin.

Kaneki blushed, even as a teenager he couldn't deny that Touka had a very attractive body. He then proceeded to do the same leaving him with nothing but a blank tank top on.

He noticed the look of surprise on Touka's face when she noticed the lean muscles he had on his buddy, probably expecting the opposite from him.

"I have to warn you." Touka said and he readied his stance. "You might die though, so prepare yourself."

Touka then lunged at Kaneki at incredible speed. She was right in front of him in the blink of an eye. She then threw a punch at Kaneki's abdomen couldn't hide the surprise on her face when he tilted his body to the right dodging her strike.

Kaneki did another think Touka didn't expect. Before she could turn to face him, he locked his arm on her extended arm, placed his other hand on her left shoulder and then twisted his body once more, directing all her weight to the ground.

Kaneki then held her in an arm bar as he lied on top of her pressing weight on her arm pinning her to the ground.

"You can tap out anytime soon Touka-chan." He teased her.

This seemed to piss her off. "You wish." Then suddenly he found Touka spin around as a kick collided with his head pushing him off her.

Before Kaneki could hit the floor, he extended his right hand to the ground and pushed himself backwards as he landed on his feet with his stance unwavering.

He saw Touka do the same as she cracked her neck. "I have to admit, I didn't expect you to know how to fight." He noticed her look at him different now. A look of both admiration and respect.

"But don't think I'd let my guard down again." She then lunged at Kaneki once more.

The couple traded blow after blow. Kaneki being on the defensive, only countering Touka's attacks. He switched style after style as he adapted to Touka's fighting style. Making him a highly unpredictable opponent.

He noticed Touka grow more frustrated as her spar with Kaneki let on. And he also noticed her movements getting sloppier and sloppier as she grew tired.

Kaneki was also starting to feel his muscles start to get sore. Keeping up with Touka's high speed movements where taking a toll on his body as his physique wasn't on par with his old one. He knew he needed to end this soon or he was going to lose.

As Touka threw a kick at him he knew she left herself open. He stepped into Touka's reach with his hand raised to stop her kick and swept her pivot foot unto the ground.

He laid right on top of Touka facing her. Her face was so close to his, he knew if he leaned just a little he would've kissed her.

He noticed the blush on Touka's face as he laid on top of her which distracted him for a second.

A second Touka needed to turn Kaneki around and turn the tables against him.

She was on top of him now, her hands pressing against his own and he felt her knees pinning his own legs down with force you wouldn't expect from a girl her size.

"Looks like I win." She smirked at him. As she spoke he could smell her breath and it drove him crazy.

"I got distracted." He said with a casual smirk.

The two ghouls where both drenched heavily in sweat and where panting just as heavily. There was an evident tension in the air as Touka laid on top of Kaneki pinning him down.

"You can let go of me now." Kaneki said teasingly.

Touka blushed. "Oh sorry…" She then stood up.

Kaneki stood up shortly after and started to wince at the bruises he started to feel on his arms. "You're a good fighter, you know that?"

Touka then smirked at him. "You're not so bad yourself. Where did you learn how to fight like that anyways?"

Kaneki then scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uh well…" He trailed off thinking of an excuse. "I got bullied a lot as a kid and read a lot of books about learning how to fight."

"Well you do seem like the type to get his ass kicked to be honest." She mocked him albeit playfully. "But I guess I was wrong. You're pretty strong Kaneki…"

Kaneki blushed at Touka's newfound respect for him. "It's probably because of me being a half-ghoul or something… I was pretty weak before this. To be honest even I'm surprised at my strength."

"Well it's not something to be ashamed of." She then picked up her uniform and started to walk to the ladder leading upstairs. "C'mon it's getting late."

"Thank you Touka-chan."

"It's nothing, now hurry your ass up here." Touka said and Kaneki smiled at getting a different reaction from calling her that this time.

* * *

The next day Ryouko dropped Hinami off in Anteiku and left her there until she comes back. The manager asked him to bring her a cup of coffee. And he entered the room right after her _meal_ placing the cup of coffee right next to her.

"Onii-chan _which_ are you?" Hinami said and then paused for a moment. "You smell different."

"Oh…" Kaneki pondered for a minute before answering. "I guess you could say I'm both."

Hinami was as what he remembered her to be, a shy girl with a very gentle heart. Even as she grew up into a beautiful woman, she still remained those qualities despite being in Aogiri.

If there was one thing he felt guiltier than being powerless when her mother died it was when he was the reason she was imprisoned in Chochlea for all those months, before he freed her.

"What do you mean by that?" Hinami asked him.

"Well it's because I'm both a human and a ghoul… Although I was originally a human." He paused. "Being a ghoul saved my life. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for my ghoul part."

"I'm sorry for asking such a weird thing…" She looked down in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it." He smiled at her. "I'm sorry for being such a weird guy."

"It's not weird… just stunning."

He noticed the book Hinami was trying to read, _Monochrome Rainbow_ and picked it up. "Hinami-chan, I didn't know you read Takatsuki's books?"

"Uhm… I have difficulty reading it…" She said in embarrassment.

"Oh…" He then sat next to her. "Mind if I help you out then? I happen to love reading."

Hinami nodded her head and the two spent the day reading the novel together, with Kaneki teaching her new words.

It was night time when Hinami's mother came into the room. Thanking Kaneki for spending time with her daughter.

"It seems like it's going to rain." The manager said as he peeked out the window. "I shall lend you an umbrella."

"Thank you very much." Ryouko said, thanking the manager.

"Onii-chan, thank you!" Hinami said with a smile. "Please teach me more next time!"

Kaneki nodded his head as Hinami and Ryouko left. When the manager left the room, the smile on his face was replaced by a look of seriousness was plastered on his face. He knew it was time.

A cold breeze entered the room as the window was left open as a figure stepped out of it.

* * *

(Ryouko POV)

Ryouko froze.

She was petrified in fear as the two white clad investigators stood in front of her.

"Could you spare a litte time for us, Fueguchi-san?" The man with long stringy white hair said.

She didn't reply as she thought of a million scenarios in her head on how this could end for her.

"We would like to ask…" The man then brought out a plastic bag. And contained inside it was her old ghoul mask that she buried. "… You about this."

She was shaking now. Desperately trying to hide her fear from the investigators but failing. She was terrified for her and her daughter's safety.

She heard footsteps behind her and saw two more investigators stand behind her. She was trapped, she had no way out.

She heard one of the mean speak out to passing civilians, but she was far too terrified to hear it.

Her heart was racing. _She was gonna die_ , she thought to herself. _Hinami's going to die,_ she told herself once more. Each voice repeating in her head almost matching her heartbeat.

"Mom…" Hinami hugged her.

She looked down and saw Hinami looking as terrified as she was. Suddenly she felt a surge flow into her. She had to protect her daughter no matter what.

She hugged her back. Relishing the feeling of her child in her arms for one last time knowing she wasn't making it out of this.

"Run!" A single tear flowed through her eye as her wings sprouted from her back.

She twirled her kagune violently. Hitting one of the investigators behind her.

"Mothe-" Her attention was focused on Hinami and she cut her off.

"Please go!" She screamed in desperation.

Tears started to fall from Hinami's eyes. Desperately trying to speak with no words coming out from her mouth. She looked her mother in the eyes for one last time before running away from the scene.

"Don't let her pass Amon-kun." She heard the man with white hair say.

"Okay." The taller man replied.

She lashed her kagune at the man in outrage and the man simply stepped to the side and avoided her attack.

He threw away his umbrella as he got ready to fight her.

"I won't let you go." Ryouko said with a predatory look in her eyes.

"Don't get cocky, trash." The man then clicked his suitcase as what appeared to be a club formed in his hands.

Ryouko striked at the man but was stopped as the man simply parried her attack with his weapon. She striked him blow after blow only to be fought against with little effort.

Then suddenly the man hit her square in the face and she was knocked back a few meters.

She was on her knees now. She knew she was going to die soon.

She saw the white-haired man pull out his quinque, and she instantly recognized her husband's kagune. Instead of looking horrified at the sight, memories of her husband and Hinami flowed through her mind and she smiled as a tear flowed down her eye.

The man raised the weapon, ready to swing it at her and she braced for her death.

"Hinami…" She closed her eyes and made her final wish. "…live."

She waited for the pain to arrive, but it never came.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a figure clad in black standing in between her and the investigators.

* * *

 ** _And there's chapter 5 the longest chapter yet(more to come)._**

 ** _Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. They encourage me to keep writing this fic, so appreciate all you're support!_**

 ** _Oh and something I forgot to put._**

 ** _Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui_**


	6. Chapter 6: Interference

A black-cladded figure broke through the rain as he jumped across the multiple rooftops of the 24th ward.

Panicked breathing hid under the black face mask which covered his face up until his eyes, allowing him to see.

 _"_ _I can't find them…"_ he thought as he moved much faster, trying not to let the heavy rain impede his vision.

The young half-ghoul's heart froze when he arrived at the former site of Hinami's mother's death, to find an empty clean alleyway, and he's been running across the 24th ward trying desperately to find Hinami and Ryouko.

He couldn't smell them as the rain blocked any trace of the female ghouls. So he had to resort to inspecting every space in between buildings to find them.

 _"_ _Dammit!"_ Kaneki thought, as he slammed his fists against the ledge of the rooftop. He he found yet another empty alleyway reminding him of his mistake of not following the mother and daughter much sooner.

 _'_ _Why weren't they there?!'_ he asked himself as he tried to reason out why Hinami and Ryouko weren't where he thought they would be. There was no possible way he could ever forget that place, so he wondered why they weren't there. It was just like that incident with the young girl earlier.

 _'_ _Maybe small changes affect the world in its own ways,'_ he theorized as he tried to explain the changes in his new timeline. Kaneki shook his head as he had to focus on looking for the mother and daughter.

Here he was, with the knowledge and power to change the past, and yet he still manages to fail. He wryly laughed at himself, _'in the end you're always just a show-off, promising things you can't fulfill.'_

He felt like giving up. He was starting to lose confidence in his abilities to redo everything. Memories of all his failures flashed through his mind as the heavy feeling in his chest started to get heavier and heavier.

Then he heard the sound of gunshots not too far from him. He immediately sprung to action, almost moving fast enough to seem like a dark blur as he sprinted from rooftop to rooftop, hoping that he wasn't too late.

He skidded to a stop and looked down at the sight below. A sense of relief flowed through his body at the sight of Ryouko, still alive, but she wasn't well. She was bruised and bloody as she lay in between the four investigators, preventing her from escaping.

He saw Mado raise his quinque to land the final strike and his body moved on its own as he jumped. Before Mado could swing his arm Kaneki landed right in front of him and held it with a gloved hand, stopping a killing blow from striking Ryouko. The white-haired investigator couldn't hide the surprised expression on his face when he was thrown back a few feet before he could do anything to react.

He looked behind him to see the frail form of Hinami's mother looking back at him, with the same look of shock evident in her eyes.

"K-Kaneki…?" She muttered, her voice so weak it was only loud enough for him to hear before fainting to the ground in exhaustion.

She must've noticed him because of his eyes. "Ryouko-san." He stood in between her and the four investigators surrounding them. "I'll protect you."

Kaneki only managed to step back in time, as Amon swung at him with the club-like quinque in hand. The miss didn't stop Amon from charging however as he twisted his body along with the momentum of the weapon slammed it hard unto the ground where Kaneki was standing.

The black clad half-ghoul rolled across the ground to avoid the large quinque from doing damage to him. Amon's heavy attack left him open and Kaneki didn't let this chance come to waste.

He sprung from his position causing him to momentarily fly through the air as he readied a kick towards the tall investigator.

Amon saw this coming and momentarily let go of his weapon to cross his arms and block Kaneki's attack. Amon grunted as he was pushed back by the force of the blow that landed on him. Kaneki was momentarily open from his attack and Amon didn't allow himself to waver.

Kaneki could only raise his arm to block the heavy blunt quinque thrown at him by the investigator. He felt a sharp pain tug on his arm as the weapon skidded along his arm. _'Well, better that, than a broken arm,'_ he thought as he grunted in pain.

Amon dived his quinque at him a few more times and all he could do was avoid it from beating him down.

Amon raised his quinque once more this time to deal the final blow. Kaneki saw this coming and jumped just in time to avoid the weapon as it left a crater in its wake.

As Kaneki landed he stomped down hard at the weapon, digging it even further into the ground. A look of surprise flashed across Amon's face as he failed to pull the quinque back up. Kaneki then used this distraction and swung a roundhouse at Amon's abdomen causing him to fly a few feet back and skid until he was stopped by a wall.

' _I hope I didn't hurt him too much,'_ Kaneki thought to himself as Amon's head hung limp as he leaned against the wall. He didn't have long to think as he heard the sound of guns clicking from behind him. He grabbed the quinque still embedded into the ground and used all his strength to lift it up.

He struggled to lift the heavy weapon up and realized it weighed much more than it looked. _'How the hell did you fight with this thing?'_ He thought as he immediately respected Amon for his strength alone at wielding such a difficult quinque.

As Haise Sasaki, Kaneki knew much about quinques, and just by looking at the weapon, he knew only the strongest investigators could use this efficiently, the 0.01% of the human population. The humans said to be the only ones among their kind.

Amon was talented, and he was born to rival the strength of ghouls. But Kaneki was not a man nor a ghoul. He was the best of both worlds, an artificial one-eyed ghoul.

He moved like a bullet as he stood between Ryouko and the investigators, using the large quinque to block the bullets from hitting their target.

He then let go of the large weapon and dashed towards the two investigators.

The two rookie investigators looked at him in fear, as he rushed at them with breakneck speed. The panic was evident on their faces as he appeared in front of them in the blink of an eye as he slammed both men into the ground incapacitating them.

"You!" He heard the voice of Mado scream at him. "I admit that I didn't expect your interference. But if you think you can get the jump on me again, then you're hardly mistaken."

The white-haired investigator then smiled with madness in his eyes, "Why don't you show me that wonderful kagune of yours and see if you can stop this?"

The whip-like quinque made from Hinami's father suddenly tripled in length and swung directly at Hinami's mother.

He sprinted towards the club-like Quinque he left on the ground before sliding down against the wet pavement and grabbing it just in time.

"Shit!" He exclaimed as he raised the weapon just in time to block the attack. He felt the force of the impact against his body as his feet dug into the ground to prevent him from being thrown off his guard.

That quinque was powerful, he remembered the days when Akira used it, having it passed down unto her after Mado's death. He could also remember how she used it to effortlessly cut down the ghouls who were foolish enough to go against her.

But he knew the quinque's one weakness…

Despite its overwhelming strength, the quinque made the user vulnerable due to attacks once it's outstretched due to the mere difficulty of maneuvering it.

He distanced himself from the man before him, waiting for him to strike. He held Amon's quinque, gripping it with two hands as he readied himself.

This seemed to anger the white-clad man as his eyes shown with fury. "How dare you even try to defile that with your disgusting hands!"

He then released his attack and the jagged whip-like quinque flew towards him at break neck speeds.

As the weapon grew to its full length, extending itself to reach him. Kaneki stepped to the right, barely avoiding it, as he let go of the large club-like weapon he wielded, and charged at directly towards the investigator.

The white-clad investigator tried to redirect his weapon towards Kaneki, but it failed to keep up with his speed as Kaneki closed the distance between the two of them.

As Kaneki drew close, he slammed his fist directly at Mado's gut with enough force to bring the investigator to his knees before falling to the wet ground.

Kaneki panted as his opponent lay before him, seemingly incapacitated. _'I got lucky there… he seemed to not be aware of the weapon's flaw yet. If he did, I would've been in trouble,'_ he thought to himself as he proceeded to walk away from the lying form of Kureo Mado.

He scooped up the unconscious form of Ryouko Fueguchi and carried her in his arms. Her clothes where soaked from the rain and she had several injuries along her body, but she was breathing.

He sighed in relief as he walked away from the alleyway before the investigators woke up.

(Line Break)

Amon's body ached as he limped his way to his partner who was slowly picking himself up to the ground.

"He got away." He heard the white-haired investigator say with irritation evident in his voice. "I didn't expect us to be intervened, the ambush was almost perfect. It's as if he expected us to come."

Amon then grimaced as he recalled his fight with the figure earlier. The black-clad figure was fast and very skilled at fighting, being able to outdo him in a fight, despite being unarmed.

"I'm sorry," Amon said as he clenched his teeth in disappointment.

His weakness caused their loss as both their targets got away. If only he was much stronger and much more experienced, then none of this would've happened. His inability risked the lives of his comrades.

"Don't be too disappointed in yourself, he beat me too." Mado told him, causing Amon to hang his head low in shame. "I've never seen him before though… And I don't think I've read any records of him. With the way he fought, he would've easily made it to at least an S, but I wonder why he's never showed up until now." The investigator cupped his chin in thought.

"Amon, I need you to call headquarters," the older of the two said.

Amon gave Mado a skeptical look, "But why?"

A wide smiled appeared on the First Class investigators face. "Because it seems that the 20th ward isn't as docile as we thought."

* * *

(Touka POV)

Touka had a smile on her face as she walked home from school.

She had barely passed the test she studied for almost all night. It was a test on Japanese literature, which was the subject she least enjoyed having.

Fortunately for her, a certain black haired college student decided to help her by giving a reviewer to aid her in the test.

Her thoughts then drifted to the boy in mind. He was an odd one, to say the least. Having met him only a few weeks ago, she first thought of him as an annoying weakling who wasn't worth her time.

She was jealous of the life he was able to live as a human. It was something she wanted more than anything else, and there he was, someone who was able to have what she wanted despite being a ghoul.

This caused her to treat him rather… _unfairly_. Occasionally glaring at him every time he looked to her, and ignoring him whenever he tried initiating a conversation.

This changed however as she learned more and more about her new co-worker. She was surprised at how easily he accepted his new life as a ghoul. One would think that the adjustment would've taken him much longer than the few weeks it took him to accept his situation.

Then, there was the way he talked to her. He always approached her as she was merely a normal person and not the monster humans would perceive ghouls as.

And lately, she discovered, that despite his scrawny figure, he was much stronger than he looked.

Touka couldn't deny it but, she slowly started to see the newest member of Anteiku as a friend. The few people in her life knew how distant she was to form relationships ever since her father passed away. And here was this boy, someone she only knew for barely a month, breaking down some of her walls.

Needless to say, it was quite a good day for her, as all her previous hard work paid off.

She eventually reached the café that she called her home, and was surprised to find the place closed.

She then took out her keys and used it to unlock the door. The bells rang signaling her entrance. Once she stepped into the café she saw the manager standing on the counter.

"So, you are here, after all. The sign was turned the wrong way." She pointed out, and the manager didn't respond. "Sorry, I'm late. Me and Yoriko ate out after we passed the exams." She said with a grin on her face.

"Touka-chan," the manager said, with distress evident in his voice.

Touka started to get nervous. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Touka-chan," the manager then walked towards the staircase, "could you come upstairs with me?"

She was nervous, to say the least. The manager rarely acted this way, and his behavior couldn't help but worry her."Uh… Sure?"

As they walked upstairs, she followed the manager as they proceeded to the café's meeting room.

Once they entered, she was surprised to find Yomo, Irima, Koma, and Kaneki waiting for her. All with a distressed look on their faces.

"Even Yomo-san is here…" She then looked at the manager questionably, "did something happen?"

The manager let out a deep exhale before speaking, "Fueguchi-san was attacked by the ghoul investigators."

This caused Touka's heart to freeze. _'No… He couldn't possible mean…'_

Before she could finish her thought, the manager continued to speak, "fortunately, Kaneki came in just in time to save her."

Touka felt a sense of relief as she heard this. Ryouko was one of the kindest people she's ever met. She was the last person who deserved to be killed by those sons of bitches.

Her attention immediately went to the certain black-haired boy sitting on the couch. He stood up to face her better. She noticed him wearing a different attire from what he usually wore.

He was dressed in all black, wearing a simple leather jacket over his black shirt, paired with black jeans. The only thing alarming was the noticeable scratches on his clothes and the blood stains he had all over him.

"You saved her?" She couldn't believe it. How strong was Kaneki to be able to go up against investigators and come back with only a few scratches?

He looked down with his hair falling down, shielding his face from hers. "I'm sorry… If only I arrived earlier, none if this would've happened."

"What the hell are you sorry for?" Touka exclaimed. "Ryouko-san is alive because of you!"

She didn't understand why he looked so guilty. It confused her. If it weren't for him, Ryouko and Hinami would've been dead.

This caused Kaneki to look up at her. "Ah…" He paused for a moment "… I guess you're right."

Then, Touka felt a wave of worry crush unto her. She remembered one very important, but small, detail that involved the young man before her.

He didn't have a mask.

"Kaneki!" She said with her voice evident with worry. "Did the doves see your face?"

This caused everyone in the room to look at Kaneki with the same expression on their face.

He then reached out for his pocket and grab a small black fabric and showed it to her.

"I wore this, because I didn't have a mask." He said as she walked closer to inspect the fabric. It appeared to be a black face mask.

She sighed in relief as she didn't have to worry about the doves digging into Kaneki's identity.

Touka then proceeded to look at the manager, "where's Ryouko and Hinami?"

"They're asleep inside." He paused to think for a moment. "Since the doves now recognize Ryouko-san's face, I'm afraid they might have to move to the 24th ward, lest they live their lives running away on the surface."

Touka angrily slammed her fist against the wall. "We can't possibly move them into that shit hole! There has to be another way…"

That was when Yomo spoke up. "I'm afraid that that's the best option we have for them."

Touka then looked at the tall man with surprise as she heard him speak. "Ryouko is not a fighter, she won't be able to survive being constantly hunted down by the CCG." His normally stone-like expression showing worry. "Hinami would also be at risk here… It's for the best for them."

Touka gritted her teeth. She knew they had a point, but they couldn't seriously be thinking of sending those two, of all people, in there?

"We should just kill the doves!" She screamed. "Get them before they could l dig even further into Ryouko and Hinami's information."

The manager spoke this time. "You know we can't do that…" He trailed off waiting for Touka to look at him. "Who's to say that Kaneki-kun's interference didn't already attract more doves? What more if we kill them? We'd be putting everyone's life at risk."

"But…" She thought for a moment, knowing the manager was right. "It would be pathetic if we didn't attack the enemy."

"The pathetic thing is not that we flee from the enemy. But the truly pitiful thing is to be consumed with revenge and not be able to live one's life."

Touka's blood froze upon hearing this. Then suddenly a burning sensation erupted from her chest. "Are you talking about me?!" She screamed.

She turned around and burst through the door heading straight to her room.

She hated the CCG more than anything else in the world. They took everything away from her. Her mother, then her father, then it took away her family.

She leaned on the door and slowly knelt down as she sat down. She recalled all the times Ryouko and Hinami visited Anteiku. The two were such kind people. Even when Hinami's father passed away, the two never lost their gentle demeanor.

 _'_ _They were the last two people who deserved to be hunted down…'_ She thought to herself as she took a box from under her bed.

She opened the box, revealing a rabbit mask hidden inside.

* * *

A hooded figure stood atop the one of the many buildings of the 20th ward. She wore a rabbit mask that covered the entirety of her face completely hiding her identity.

She was currently waiting for the three suited men to come out in the open. Not willing to risk fighting in a public place.

The sun started to set, and her prey still failed to appear. Regardless, the figure remained in place, as she waited for the time to strike.

As the sky turned orange, her prey appeared, and she dived down with claws extended to strike.

It would've been so easy for her. Her prey were unarmed, and they were not aware of her presence. All she had to do was drop on them, and take them down.

She was a second away from her target when she felt something strike her in the head.

She rolled across the ground, the impact of the blow skidding her away from the three men.

When she got up, she saw a man with long stringy white hair who wore a mad expression on his face.

"That's no good, you know?" She heard the man say as he tossed a metal briefcase to a tall black-haired man. "You musn't forget your quinque."

The man caught the briefcase and unlocked it. "Forgive me, Mado-san." A red club-like quinque then formed in his hands. "I shouldn't have let my guard down."

"Fortunately for you Amon-kun, I had a feeling our friend from yesterday would visit us again." The man gave a cruel laugh and then looked at her. "I didn't expect this though. But I suppose this will do."

His quinque launched itself at her. Her eyes widened as the weapon extended three times its length as it approached her.

Thinking fast, Touka flipped herself out of the way just in time as the weapon caused the place, where she previously stood in, to explode.

"Oh!" She heard the man say almost excitedly. "I'm starting to doubt what they say about the 20th ward. It seems the ghouls here are quite strong. Just like the ghoul I killed for this quinque."

The man then broke into maniacal laughter. "In the end he couldn't do anything and died a pitiable death." The man continued to laugh.

Touka's blood boiled. They say that ghouls are worse than humans but this man was sickening. "That's pretty funny isn't it?" Driven by anger, she launched herself at the man in wild fury.

The man didn't move. She thought he didn't expect her speed. She was a few meters away when she felt a force impact her on the shoulder, knocking her back.

Once more, Touka skidded helplessly as she clutched the part where the impact hit. She grimaced as her shoulder started to bleed, and found a bullet imbedded deep within.

"Good shot Ippei!" She heard the man say once more. "You hit it right in the shoulder."

When Touka looked up, she found herself severely outnumbered as she was surrounded by six men, all pointing their weapons at her.

"It seems like we have a rabbit caught in our trap."

* * *

 _ **And yet another cliffhanger insert evil laugh here. Now I know this is really cheap, but doncha worry, expect an update in a day or three as the next chapter is going to be quite intense(not quite that's me hoping it actually seems intense once it's done).**_

 _ **And will ya look at that, it seems this story is gaining a larger and larger audience(Please review, I'm whorinh for your criticizing ;-;) . Thank you for all your support, it really keeps me going as I wonder whether or not I should keep this story going.**_

 _ **Oh and btw, I apologize for all the typos last chapter. I kinda rushed it and didn't edit it very well. Since someone was kind enough to volunteer to edit my story, I hope the next few chapters avoid those mistakes.**_

 _ **Once again Thank you all and please continue supporting this fic.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui**_


	7. Chapter 7: Rabbit chase

Touka was cornered.

She looked around and found herself surrounded by the doves. They had her back against the building as they stood there with their all weapons pointed at her.

"Now…" The man holding the quinque made from Hinami's father spoke, "Why don't you just give up, and I'll promise not to kill you slowly. That good?" He gave her that sickening grin of his.

Right now, as she stood there, she couldn't help but despise the man before her even more. She then went into a crouch, readying herself for her next move.

Without saying anything, she launched herself into the air, twisting her body as she did so as her kagune flared from behind her.

Dozens of crystallized projectiles were launched at the men before her. She thought she hit her targets, when suddenly the white-haired man's quinque expanded and shielded the men from her attack.

The man with the club-like quinque then charged to right where she landed, weapon raised, ready to attack her. Seeing this coming, Touka leaned backwards, barely avoiding the assault.

Unfortunately for her, the men where relentless with their attack as the black-suited men started to open fire upon her. Touka then screamed in agony as she was forced on one knee as one of the bullets hit her on the hip.

Aware of her vulnerable position, Touka crystallized her flaring kagune and used it to block the next incoming hailstorm of bullets.

Too distracted by the hail of bullets assaulting her. She failed to notice her previous opponent close in and swing his quinque directly at her.

Touka's kagune broke into a thousand shards as it shattered at the force of the attack, and she was launched directly at the building, stopping right at its wall.

She felt blood rise from her throat as she coughed it out. Her entire body ached, and she was losing confidence that she'd be able to make it through this alive.

She felt fear crawl its way towards her as she lay there leaning her back against the wall. The impact of her body colliding with the building caused the concrete to explode, leaving behind a fog of dust around her.

She knew that the moment the dust settled, she was going to die. She willed her body to stand. She fell to a knee as her injured leg failed to support her weight.

Forcing herself to stand up once more, Touka grunted at the burning sensation she felt at her left leg. She felt her kagune flare to life once more as she sent twice the amount of projectiles at her opponents, right as the dust was starting to settle.

She got the reaction she wanted as the white-haired investigator used his quinque to shield them from her incoming hailstorm.

Touka saw the chance and broke for it. She ran towards the alleyway separating the two buildings, ignoring the burning sensations she felt around her body.

Little did she know, the hunt has just begun.

* * *

(Amon POV)

"She got away." Amon said in disappointment as the rabbit-masked ghoul disappeared.

"She must have realized the difference in our strength." His partner then sighed in disappointment. "And she had a nice kagune too, would have been a good addition to my collection."

Amon shook his head at his senior's antics. "So what do we do now?" He asked

His partner merely smiled as he grabbed a radio. "CCG base to 203, a ghoul has been spotted at sector 4 of the 20th ward. I repeat, a ghoul has been spotted at sector 4 of the 20th ward and is on the run. Target is wearing a purple coat and a pink rabbit mask and is on the run. Requesting backup immediately."

His partner then looked at him, not losing his grin. "Be patient Amon-kun. We have an injured rabbit on the run, and our hounds have its scent."

Amon nodded his head as sirens could be heard across the street.

* * *

(Touka POV)

The rabbit-masked ghoul leaned against the wall of some random alleyway. Heavy breathing could be heard behind her mask as she struggled against the pain throughout her body.

Touka wasn't particularly in the best condition at the moment. After fleeing from the investigators, her body finally gave out and she found herself unable to move as the adrenaline faded away.

She winced at her leg. The bullet embedded within prevented her from moving, and forcing herself to run earlier only caused the metal to dig itself even deeper into her leg, causing more damage.

Knowing that she had to move soon, lest her pursuers catch up to her, she then proceeded to bite down hard on the fabric of her jacket. Her screams of pain were muffled by the cloth as she dug her nails deep into her skin, trying to forcefully take out the bullet impending her movement.

After a few agonizing moments, she finally felt the foreign object and violently pulled it out of her body. Her hands were bloodied, and she was fighting the urge to collapse, but her leg was starting to heal, and it won't be long before she starts to move once more.

Unfortunately for her, her screams weren't muffled enough as she heard footsteps approaching her fast.

"Freeze!" She heard a voice say causing her to look at the source.

It was one of the black suited doves who, along with his three other companions, had their guns pointed at her.

Touka then grit her teeth as she found herself surrounded once more as the men stood at both ends of the dark alleyway.

"Stand down with your hands above your head or we will open fire!" The man said once more.

That didn't really leave her with a lot of options. It was either she fought with her injured state, or she surrenders and becomes a prisoner in cochlea.

She decided to stick with the former.

But before she could move, she heard one of the doves grunt in pain as he was knocked to the ground. Not even a second later, panicked gunshots could be heard before it was silenced by the screams of a man opening fire.

As she looked towards the source of the screams, she couldn't hide the surprise evident on her face at the sight. It was a man. Said person wore a black cloak running down until his thighs, complemented by a pair of black combat jeans and boots. His most noticeable feature was his mask.

There was a wide toothy grin stretching across the mask. It looked terrifying, as the white of the teeth were all that was visible, easily standing out from the man's black attire. The mask also covered his right eye, leaving only the left one open, which was odd as it gave him an obvious blind spot.

The two remaining investigators immediately pointed their guns at the new figure. Terror evident on their faces as wild gunshots were fired at the newcomer.

The figure merely dodged the incoming projectiles. The sound of metal clicking was heard as the hailstorm of bullets stopped. The black-suited investigators panicked as they reached their belts to reload their guns.

Not letting his opponents get the chance, the figure then lunged at the two remaining men before they could even blink, and not even a second later, two bodies fell into the ground, unconscious.

She looked at the figure before her with curiosity. She's never seen him in the 20th ward before, and she couldn't deny that he was obviously skilled, with how easily he dispatched the four investigators.

She then felt uneasy as the figure turned around to look at her. She couldn't appear weak in front of the stranger, as she forced herself to stand, holding in the wincing pain she felt around her left leg.

"Who are you?!" She asked the eyepatch-masked figure.

"Touka-chan, you're bleeding!" The figure replied in a voice that was familiar to her.

 _'_ _What?'_ Touka thought to herself, wondering how the figure knew her name. Her eyes then immediately widened once she pieced two and two together.

The black hair, the eyepatch covering his right eye, and the familiarity she had with the figure's voice all directed themselves to only one person she knew.

"Kaneki!?" She exclaimed.

The figure then pulled out his mask, revealing his face to indeed be the black-haired boy she knew.

"Uta-san arrived yesterday."

"I see…" She trailed off examining his mask. "It suits you."

"Thanks, but more importantly…" Kaneki then started to walk up to her as he brought her left arm around his shoulders, supporting the weight of her left leg. "You're hurt, Touka-chan, and we have to get out of here."

"I don't need your help!" She then winced in pain, contradicting herself.

"Touka." Kaneki's voice went into a serious tone. "You're injured, and more importantly." He paused as the sound of radio chattering filled the dark alleyway.

 _"_ _Rank 3 investigator Takihara, please confirm your position. I repeat, please confirm your position_."

"At least half the police force of the 20th ward is on the lookout for you." Kaneki pointed out

Upon hearing this, Touka's body immediately froze. She wasn't arrogant. She knew how relentless the doves get, and she'd be lucky if she came out of this alive.

"But why?" She asked with panic evident in her voice. "The doves don't normally keep chase after ghouls if they've escaped, unless they're on the CCG's wanted list?"

Kaneki sighed as he started moving them towards the backdoor leading into the building. "It's because the 20th ward is supposed to be docile, then suddenly, in not even the span of two months, countless people were killed by Rize, and not to mention my attack when I saved Ryouko, and now you."

The last sentence caused her to immediately regret her impulsive actions. The manager and Yomo were right. And now because of her, more doves would patrol the 20th ward, endangering the lives of the hundreds of peaceful ghouls that lived in it.

As if reading her thoughts, Kaneki spoke up. "It's not your fault. The moment Rize arrived in the 20th ward, it was bound to happen."

"I guess so…" She trailed off in understanding, but the weight of her actions never left her.

Kaneki then kicked the door leading to the building, breaking its lock. "Let's go inside, we need to avoid the streets, and you need to heal your injuries."

The two ghouls then entered the building and found themselves inside an apartment complex. Fortunately for them the hall where they entered was empty.

Touka winced in pain at every limping step they made. She still had a bullet imbedded into her shoulder, and not to mention her broken rib.

Kaneki seemed to notice this. "We need to patch that up." He said, concern filling his tone.

"Where are we going to get that?" Touka asked, knowing she desperately needed it.

Without answering her the half-ghoul then scooped her up bridal style to which caused her to scream at him. Then proceeded to run up the flight of stairs.

They stopped at the top most floor, and Kaneki then put her down. "Don't even think of doing that again without asking me."

The half-ghoul merely gave her a cheeky smile. "Sorry Touka-chan, we needed to hurry." Then his face turned serious as he faced the door.

Without saying a word, Touka watched as the half-ghoul slammed into the door, revealing a modest apartment. This caused the lone resident, a rather large woman in her late 40s to scream in fear as they entered the room.

"Please! Take anything you want, just don't hurt me!" The woman immediately raised her hands.

"First aid kit. Now." The harsh tone Kaneki gave out surprised her, as the woman scrambled to her feet and ran towards the bathroom.

To say Touka was surprised at the change in Kaneki's demeanor, was an understatement. Who knew the gentle college bookworm had this kind of side to him?

He then brought Touka to the dining table, and asked her to sit down. As she did so, the woman returned holding a bag full of medical supplies and had her lay it on the table for him.

"I-I'm a n-nurse, i-if you promise not to hurt me, I-I can help patch her up." The woman said as her voice trembled in fear.

Kaneki gave the nurse a glare. "If anything happens to her, you won't live to see the next day."

The trembling woman nodded her head, and Kaneki stepped out of the kitchen, probably to keep watch.

The woman then took off her cloak and paused to inspect her bleeding shoulder. "Bullet wound, I assume?"

Touka nodded her head in response. Then the woman took out a towel, rolled it, and placed it in her mouth. "I suggest you bite into this, otherwise you'd be breaking those teeth of yours."

Touka then proceeded to bite down hard into the towel, and the woman took out a pair of medical tweezers. She felt the cold metal dig into her shoulder as she screamed in pain.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

 _"_ _Citizens of the 20_ _th_ _ward please remain inside your homes as a fugitive is on the loose. Said fugitive is a ghoul, and appears to be wearing a rabbit mask. Please alert the police immediately if you find anyone with these features."_ Kaneki then turned off the tv and stepped out of the apartment complex.

It was only a matter of time before the four bureau investigators woke up and alerted the CCG of their current location. He hoped Touka would recover fast enough, because they needed to move fast.

As if cursing his luck, he looked down at the street he found several police cars parked in front of the building. _'Son of a bitch,'_ he thought as he ran towards the apartment where Touka was being patched up.

He entered the room, and found the woman just finishing as she patched up Touka. "Lady, you need to hurry up!" He exclaimed as he peeked outside of the apartment. "Touka-chan, put on your mask now!"

He could hear the footsteps grow closer, he peeked out once again and found more bureau investigators carrying assault rifles loaded with q bullets.

Kaneki waited for a few moments for the investigators to come closer before grabbing the men and knocking them to the ground, unconscious. He then stepped out of the apartment, and ran towards the other investigators while dodging the incoming projectiles launched at him.

When he closed in on the second investigator, he grabbed him on the vest, preventing the man behind him from opening fire, and used him as a battering ram towards the man behind him.

The two investigators were knocked out at the sheer force of the impact. And Kaneki realizing he was left open as the approaching men pointed their guns at him, took the metal lid and threw it, at the man in front of him, like a frisbee.

The attack hit the man square in the head, knocking him unconscious. This caused his companions to momentarily be distracted and Kaneki launched himself at them, knocking them unconscious.

As the first wave was put down, He then noticed the approaching waves of investigators. They needed to leave now. Kaneki then found Touka, wearing her rabbit mask, right behind him.

She was patched up, and was now back to wearing her cloak. And Kaneki politely thanked the woman peeking out of her now broken apartment door. "Sorry for your door," Kaneki said as he and Touka launched themselves into the air.

The two ghouls where mid-air, when they heard the sound of guns firing at them. It was a risky jump for their part, as they tried to reach the small building across the street.

Their risk paid off as they landed in a roll, and the two ghouls proceeded to run towards the next building, but then something caught the corner of Kaneki's eye and he tackled Touka into the ground to avoid it.

When the two stood up they found Amon and Mado standing before them, quinque's drawn. "You're not escaping us again, trash." Amon then launched himself at Touka, quinque raised, and Kaneki would've rushed in to help her but was stopped as he dodged an incoming attack by Mado.

They didn't have time for this. The two investigators were stalling, and he noticed the rest of their force starting to run towards their current building.

"We don't have time for this, _Rabbit!_ " He said, being careful not to give out Touka's name. "We need a distraction."

Immediately understanding. Touka proceeded to flip herself backwards, as her kagune flared to life, launching dozens of projectiles towards her two opponents.

The two investigators then blocked the incoming projectiles with their quinques. And as they were momentarily distracted, Touka and Kaneki began to run towards the next building.

The investigators began to follow them in pursuit, with Amon using his superior physique to chase them and Mado using his quinque to carry him across rooftops.

As they sped through building after building, Kaneki and Touka soon realized that they were also being followed along the street, as the sound of sirens closed in on them. They knew they couldn't risk being surrounded.

The investigators were still behind them and they were beginning to lose buildings to leap on as they approached another wide street.

"Touka!" Kaneki screamed. "You're gonna have to trust me, alright?" To which the rabbit-masked ghoul nodded.

As they closed in on the edge Kaneki then grabbed Touka's hand as they ran. "Jump!" The two ghouls then launched themselves into the air, right across the street, and crashed into the window of the building they landed in.

* * *

(Amon POV)

Amon watched as the armed force of bureau investigators entered the office and escorted civilians out of the complex.

"Why only bureau investigators?" He then looked at his partner, who also watched the scene before him.

"Until these past few months, the number of ghoul incidents in the 20th ward was almost non-existent. So, most of the police force of the ward is composed of rookies and investigators who aren't eligible enough for a promotion." Mado explained. "But I think that after today, the CCG might take the 20th ward more seriously."

His partner then began to walk to the door leading out of the rooftop, before looking at Amon, smiling. "Our prey is cornered, it won't be long before we catch them."

As he watched his partner walk into the door, Amon couldn't help but feel uneasy despite their advantageous situation.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

Kaneki and Touka ran through the screams of office workers as they rushed their way to find the fire exit.

They were completely surrounded now, and he didn't know how they'd get out of this situation. The ghouls heard the elevator ring and gunshots shortly followed them.

The pair ran towards the corner, ignoring the wave of bullets being fired at them. A man then appeared, popping out from a door leading to the staircase and began to open fire upon them.

He then watched as Touka quickly dispatched of the man with a kick to the gut, knocking him unconscious. The pair immediately entered the door, and took out the investigators in their way.

They found the investigators completely filling the previous floors as they climbed the flight of stairs to approach them.

"I thought you said half?" Touka remarked as she kicked the incoming investigator square in the gut, launching him straight towards his companions, delaying their approach. And then proceeding to climb the flight of stairs.

Kaneki soon followed after her, ducking at the incoming bullets that were fired upon him. "I guess you must've really pissed them off, then."

He soon realized that they'd exhaust themselves before they could reach the top, and despite being patched up was still injured.

"Wait." He said causing her to stop and look at him.

"What?!" She asked alarmingly.

Without responding, Kaneki's kakugan flared to life, as four red appendages with what appeared to be claws at the end appeared behind his back. He then scooped up Touka, and jumped at the center of the fire exit, which would've led them straight down.

Kaneki then used his kagune to swiftly launch themselves towards the end of the stairs. Once they reached the top, Kaneki deactivated his kagune, dropping Touka towards the door, as they entered the rooftop.

He heard the sound of wind pass through them, as he noticed how high above they were. They were atleast thirty-five stories high. He then gritted his teeth as their options for escape were getting slimmer and slimmer.

"You're kagune…" He heard Touka speak up as he realized it was her first time seeing him use it. "It's Rize's right?"

He nodded. "Then how'd you learn how to use it, I thought you were turned into a ghoul? But with the way you used it, it was like you've been using it for years?" She asked once more.

Kaneki then sighed at her. "Will tell you later," he said, and he could almost see the look of irritation Touka had on her face behind the mask.

"Ok-" Touka was then cut off by a blinding light that was suddenly directed towards them.

A news helicopter was right above them probably broadcasting the event. He then realized that they could launch themselves at it and use it as an escape.

Right before Kaneki could speak up to Touka about his plan, they heard the ring of an elevator as two white-clad figures stepped out.

"My, my…" He heard the voice of Mado speak. "It appears that you two have really caused quite the ruckus, haven't you?"

The sound of metal clicking could be heard as the two investigators had their weapons drawn before them. "There's no chance of you escaping, and whether you like it or not." He then smiled. "You're going to die here." Mado then swung his quinque right at them and Kaneki's left eye flared to life.

The quinque was stopped halfway as a red appendage blocked it from its path. "Finally showing your kagune eh? Might I say it's quite marvelous. The strength and size..." The weapon retracted and extended once more, heading straight to Kaneki.

Kaneki then rolled to his right, barely avoiding the weapon but was forced to jump out of the way as the whip-like quinque redirected itself towards his location.

He was really starting to hate that quinque. He then looked towards his partner and found her currently preoccupied as she fended off Amon.

"I must say, I should thank you." The man retracted his weapon bringing it to only 2 meters in length. "If it weren't for that stunt you pulled off, I would've never realized the flaw in my weapon."

"Perhaps your kagune would make a good addition to my collection?" The quinque-obsessed man then rushed towards him and the two clashed.

* * *

(Amon POV)

Amon dove to the right as he dodge a barrage of projectiles launched towards him by his opponent.

His partner was currently engaged in a fight with the ghoul they encountered yesterday which made him feel uneasy. Unlike their previous encounter, the ghoul now had his kagune activated, and the sheer power of it was terrifying.

He then looked at his opponent. It was the rabbit they encountered earlier, she was an ukaku-type, and that meant that he had to take advantage of her short stamina.

Which also meant he had to hold her off, as long as he could.

The ghoul before him then seemed to change tactics as she launched at him at great speeds. He tilted his body to the right, barely avoiding the extended claw approaching him.

As the ghoul landed, she quickly rolled to face him and launched another wave of projectiles towards him. He then raised doujima, using it to block the incoming shards from approaching him as he slowly pushed his way towards the ghoul.

Despite its large size, the quinque was unable to shield his entire body, as he felt some of the projectiles pierce his arms and legs.

Ignoring the searing pain he felt, Amon then swung his quinque at the ghoul, hitting her as she raised her arm to block the attack.

He heard her wince in pain as she jumped out of the way of his next strike, causing the ground where she stood to explode.

He stared at the ghoul before him and found her clenching her arm, which he assumed to have fractured at the force of the impact.

"Surrender, trash." He pointed his quinque at her.

The ghoul looked at him for a moment before speaking. "Not in your wildest dreams." The ghoul's kagune then flared more wildly, rapidly increasing in length before she disappeared in a blur of red.

"Wha-" He was cut off as a leg collided onto his chest knocking him to the ground.

Amon grunted in pain, as he laid on the ground, right by the edge of the building. He tried to reach out for his quinque, but found it meters away from him.

His opponent then kneeled before him, panting heavily in exhaustion. Then looked at him as her kagune flared.

"Now, die."

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

Kaneki's kagune clashed against Mado's quinque with brute force as the investigator tried blocking his attack.

"Tell me." Mado spoke as quinque and kagune collided with each other. "Where have you been all this time? Surely a ghoul as powerful as you would've at least attracted attention here and there."

Kaneki chose not to entertain the investigator's question, but returned it with a question for himself. "Why do you hate ghouls so much?"

Kaneki then formed his kagune into a claw and grabbed hold of Mado's quinque, stopping it in its tracks.

"You want to know why?" Kaneki then heard the sound of metal clicking. "Because they took everything away from me!"

With his quinque still held by Kaneki's kagune, Mado then proceeded to retract his weapon, launching him straight at the half-ghoul.

Before Kaneki could release his hold on the quinque, he saw a thin glint of metal headed towards his head, and ducked just in time before it could reach its target.

"Do you like it?" He watched as the quinque retracted itself into a small blade. "It's one of my old ones. I stopped using it due to its small range. It's called Izuki, named after the ghoul I killed to make it."

Kaneki remained calm, despite his opponent's new advantage towards him. That meant he covered all reaches, rendering Kaneki unable to attack him head on.

"Not going to say anything?" The man then looked at him with disappointment. "And to think I took this out just for you-"

Before he could finish his sentence. A red appendage hit him square in the gut as it popped out of the ground beneath him. The kagune was shaped blunt enough to not pierce through his opponent, but that didn't hinder the power beneath the attack.

Mado was pushed back skidding towards the ledge of the building. He then used Izuki, as he pierced it through the ground preventing him from falling.

"A-and…" He was cut off by his own coughs. "To think I said that you wouldn't surprise me anymore."

Kaneki then looked to find his partner putting her opponent in the same position. He was just about to tell her to follow her when she saw her ready her kagune towards Amon.

"Touka stop!" He screamed in panic as he ran towards her.

Time slowed down as he watched Mado launch his whip-like quinque towards Touka. She noticed this and redirected her attack at Mado. A few shards hit him square in the chest causing him to nearly miss his target as he fell off the edge.

Kaneki tried to reach for Touka in time to stop the attack from hitting her. But found himself a second late as Mado's quinque dug itself right into Touka's leg bringing her down with him.

He heard Amon scream as Touka and Mado fell. He found himself unable to do so as he ran towards the edge and jumped right after them.

He straightened his body as he dived down towards the falling figures. The wind crashed against his ears as he fell at great speeds, trying to catch up with them.

They were nearing the pavement, only a hundred feet left before they reached the ground.

Kaneki could see the squadron of investigators lined up beneath their vehicles right where they were about to land but Kaneki didn't care.

His kagune burst to life and he used it to boost his descent as it pushed against then building's exterior.

Touka was right at his reach now, with the quinque no longer digging into her and he immediately grabbed hold of her, and he held her close in his arms. He then extended his kagune towards the falling investigator as it wrapped around his body.

Thousands of shards fell to the ground as Kaneki dug his kagune into the building, slowing their fall. As they landed, a large cloud of smoke appeared momentarily, hiding the three under it.

"W-why did you save me?" He heard Mado speak as he brought him gently to the ground.

Kaneki held Touka in his arms, she was injured, but he was relieved to find her breathing. "Because not all ghouls want to take lives." He then remembered the woman he considered his surrogate mother. "We, too, live for something. Besides, your daughter would be sad if she lost you too."

At the mention of his daughter. The white-haired investigator's eyes widened with surprise. "How di-" Kaneki didn't wait for another question as he fled the scene before the dust could settle.

* * *

(Amon POV)

The sound of an ambulance could be heard as Amon approached his senior.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, deeply ashamed as he blamed himself for his partner's current state.

Mado lay in the stretcher as he was pulled into the ambulance. "You should really stop blaming yourself Amon-kun." He saw Mado give him a genuine smile as he entered the vehicle. "You're young. Find the things in life that are worth living for."

Amon was startled by this. "How can you be alright with this? You might not be able to walk again!?" Amon exclaimed.

If only he beat the ghoul he fought earlier. If only he was stronger. Then she would have never been able to launch her attack at him, and he'd still be able to walk.

When Amon found the lying form of his partner. Several shards were imbedded into his body. One of the shards hit him in the back, right at his spine.

"That ghoul could've killed us anytime he wanted, you know?" This broke Amon out of his thoughts. "Now that I think about it, he was holding back this entire time, I don't think he wanted to kill anybody at all."

His eyes widened in realization. None of the bureau investigators that encountered him had any fatal injuries. They were merely found with, at most, a broken bone or two, and were always found to be either unconscious or unable to fight.

Despite the event that transpired today the 20th ward would still have no incident of any investigator deaths in 10 years to this day.

"He saved me." His partner spoke. "We were wrong about them. They're just like us."

Before Amon could ask what he meant by his statement. The doors closed, as the ambulance sped off to the nearest hospital, leaving Amon to his own thoughts.

Amon knew that after what transpired today, nothing would ever be the same.

* * *

(?)

 _"_ _We hereby broadcast to you an incident that occurred tonight at the Hanashira building."_ The footage of a black-clad ghoul jumping off to save what appeared to be his partner and an investigator was shown. _""The ghoul, who is now nicknamed Eyepatch, was seen saving the life of First Class investigator Kureo Mado."_

The footage then switched again to show the picture of the investigator and a blurred cropped out image of the black-clad figure. _"Could it be that we were wrong about gho-"_

The television was then turned off and a figure chuckled in the background.

"My, my…" The figure then licked her lips. "How interesting, it seems I found what I was looking for."

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

He gently lay Touka on his couch as he inspected her wounds.

She had her previous wounds, and her newly broken arm and bleeding leg. He ran towards his bathroom grabbing his first aid kit and brought towards her.

Before he could grab a bandage, he heard the sound of cloth bristling, and found Touka slowly opening her eyes. "Kaneki?"

He gently took off his mask and smiled at Touka. "My apartment was close, so I brought you here." Then his smile morphed into a look of concern as he noticed her wounds continue to bleed. "You're not healing."

"I-I'll be alright." Kaneki sighed as the tremor in her voice betrayed her.

He then took of his coat, and then took off his shirt causing blood to flow towards Touka's cheeks. "W-what are you doing!?"

"You need to eat," he told her with worry evident in his voice.

"I can't do tha-"

"Touka-chan." He brought his shoulder closer to her face expecting her to bite into it. "Just eat."

Touka hesitated for a moment before she bit down hard into Kaneki's shoulder. He winced in pain as her teeth sunk in.

After a few moments, Kaneki had to push her away before she got into a frenzy.

"I-I'm sorry…" She looked down in embarrassment. "I got carried away."

"It's alright." He said as he smiled as her wounds started to heal. "I heal fast." As soon as he said that, his shoulder started to heal itself.

"Kaneki…" She then looked at him smiling and his hear fluttered. "Thank you."

Their faces were a few inches apart. He could feel her breath against his skin. He couldn't help but notice the two of them leaning closer to each other.

"That's what friends are for." Upon saying so he immediately regretted it as he broke any tension they had earlier.

"Oh…" She then broke her gaze as her cheeks started to redden. "Yeah…"

 _'_ _Damn he was stupid.'_ He thought to himself as he stood up and composed himself.

"Kaneki." He heard Touka call out to him.

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay here for the night? I wouldn't mind just sleeping in your couch." She looked a tad bit embarrassed at her request which caused Kaneki to smile at her.

"Of course, you can Touka-chan."

As the night passed by, Kaneki slept in peace, unaware of the incoming chaos he brought upon himself.

* * *

 ** _Surprised at the early upload? Well that's because chapter 6 and 7 were originally supposed to be just one chapter but I figured it would be much too long, and did I mention I love leaving cliffhangers? I think I did._**

 ** _Well it seems the reception keeps going up in this fic so I am very thankful to all of you who've continued to support this, really keeps me going guys. I hope the support continues to grow(Because I whore for those reviews, follows, and favorites deep within)!_**

 ** _And as you can see, I don't always end my chapters with mean cliffhangers. As you can see the plot continues to diverge itself from canon, but don't worry the same canon story arcs will progress, just with a bunch of major changes here and there._**

 ** _And I know Mado's reaction in the end is a bit ooc but, you'll see why later._**

 ** _And that concludes my own little revision on the Doves Emergence Arc. Hope I didn't disappoint._**

 ** _Please review and leave me your thoughts!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui_**


	8. Chapter 8: Cause and Effect

The bristling of sheets was heard as tired eyes slowly opened.

As soon as his eyes opened, aching spots in his back shortly followed as he realized what his back rested on. He grunted as he raised himself to sit down, finding himself on his couch.

He gently moaned as he stretched his body, hearing the satisfying pops of stiff joints as he did so. _'I really need to get better furniture.'_ He thought to himself as he stepped out of his makeshift bed.

He recalled the events that transpired last night and remembered why he slept on his couch in the first place.

Shortly after patching up whatever injuries were inflicted on the two, Kaneki insisted that Touka sleep in his room after cleaning herself up. Needless to say, the younger teen agreed due to her more severe injuries.

Speaking of his lavender haired companion, he wondered if she'd awoken yet. It was nearly lunch time, and he usually woke up much earlier than this.

Then again, the two of them did face off against the entire police force that the 20th ward had to offer, so it may have been obvious as to why Touka had yet to step out of his room.

He sighed to himself as he gently walked towards the kitchen and started to heat up water for coffee. As he waited for the water to boil, he walked towards his television set and opened it.

As soon as it opened, he was met with the face of a news anchor recalling the events of the previous night.

The screen displayed the dozens of police cars parked outside Hanashira building. After a few moments the screen zoomed into the falling bodies of him, Touka, and Mado as he grabbed them and dug his kagune into the building, causing hundreds of debris to fall with them as he slowed down his fall.

 _"_ _This transpired last night in the Hanashira building."_ The screen then switched to the anchor as she continued to tell the news. _"The two fugitives-"_ A blurred image of he and Touka with their masks was shown. _"-who are now named as Eyepatch and Rabbit, caused the entire police force of the 20_ _th_ _ward to chase after them in heavy pursuit after they reportedly assaulted a group of investigators."_

 _"_ _Unfortunately, these two fugitives escaped shortly after one of the investigators, First Class Kureo Mado, fell from the rooftop of the Hanashira building, but was miraculously saved by Eyepatch."_

 _"_ _Could it be that we are witnessing a ghoul in action? What is that thing that sprouted from their backs? To answer these questions we called Hisashi Ogura, a ghoul rese-"_

He was cut off by the sound of the door to his room opening, revealing a tired looking Touka wearing his shirt.

And only his shirt.

His face then began to feel a few degrees hotter as blood started to rush towards his cheeks.

"T-Touka! You're awake!" Kaneki exclaimed trying his best to remain casual.

The girl in front of him let out a tired yawn. "…Oh Kaneki, you're awake." She stated as she rubbed the sand from her eyes.

A small ball of sweat formed along his forehead, at the look of indifference his female companion had.

Despite his gentle and chivalrous personality, he couldn't help but gawk in awe at Touka's long and creamy legs.

He knew he had terrible luck in life. Seriously the odds of someone nearly getting killed by their first date were slim to none. Despite this, he couldn't help but thank whatever god lay up there for his possible future with the wonderful woman.

He knew he was staring too long when an almost inaudible shriek was heard, which was shorty followed by the sound of a door slamming against the wall, as he found the object of his thoughts no longer in his sights.

A wave of embarrassment then rushed over him as he realized he was staring at the lavender-haired girl far too long to be considered friendly.

He sighed to himself as the sound of the kettle howling signaled his water to be ready, and walked towards the kitchen, preparing two cups of coffee for him and Touka.

Kaneki sat at his small dining area, gently taking sips at his cup of coffee. It was only a few moments later that Touka stepped out of his room still wearing his shirt, but this time had a dirty pair of shorts, much to his disappointment.

"Good morning." He greeted her as she made her way towards the table. "I made you coffee."

"Thanks…" Touka replied with the faintest blush on her cheeks as she sat down.

She then took a sip at her own cup of coffee. "It's good." She said seeming indifferent to what just occurred earlier.

"Thanks… it's instant."

"Oh…" She trailed off as she took a few more sips of her coffee.

"Uhmm…" he paused trying to think of a way to kill the awkward tension that was present in the air. "You must have a lot of questions."

This caused Touka's eyes to perk up as she placed her cup back on the table. "That's an understatement." She said rather smugly.

A sigh escaped Kaneki's lips as he placed his own cup at the table. "What would you want to know?"

Touka paused and looked straight at Kaneki's eyes. She seemed to be in thought as a look of concentration passed her features before relaxing. "Where you following me around these past few days?"

"Yep."

Touka blinked several times for a few moments in response to this. "Wow… Didn't think you had in it in you. Not even going to deny it huh?"

"I had a hunch." He shrugged. "Had a feeling you'd get into a mess with the doves after what happened to Ryouko."

He shivered internally at the cold and menacing glare Touka gave him. "I don't need your protection."

The morning was turning sour real quick.

Kaneki crossed his arms and gave a scolding look towards the lavender haired girl. "You had the _entire_ police force of the 20th ward after you." He emphasized the trouble that Touka got herself into.

This caught Touka to open her mouth to object but found no words coming out of it, to which she pursed her lips and crossed her own arms at him.

"Besides." He said with a smirk. "It's not like you weren't following me around yourself."

Caught completely off guard by his rather snarky comment. The she-ghoul found her face reddening rather rapidly as she tried to recompose herself. "I-I was making sure you wouldn't get yourself killed!"

"So you do care about me." The half ghoul rebutted with a smirk.

"You joined us, and Anteiku take care of their own!" To say Touka's rapid change in demeanor was comical was an understatement.

"Careful there… You're slipping up Touka-chan."

"Shut up Bakaneki." Touka grunted as she punched him in the shoulder.

Silence filled the air for a few seconds before the two ghouls let out a chuckle breaking it.

"The manager is gonna kill us." Touka said as her laugher slowly died out.

"I don't know." Kaneki shook his head. "Yoshimura-san has the whole caring dad vibe to him."

Touka looked up in thought as she placed a finger on her chin. "Kinda. You haven't seen him get mad though." He saw Touka shiver slightly at the thought. "He remind you of your dad or something?"

A sad smile slowly crept its way to Kaneki's face. "I've actually never met my father."

Immediately Touka's face fell. "Oh.. I'm sorry."

Kaneki gave her a gentle smile. "Nah, it's alright, I've already moved on from that. How about you? Is the manager your grandpa or something?" He knew the story behind her parents, but for the sake of not seeming creepy asked her anyways.

Touka then tensed up at his question. "No… the manager took me in after the _doves_ killed my parents." She said as malice laced her words.

"I'm sorry." He sighed to himself. "I lost my mother too when I was young."

Touka gave him a look of surprise. "What happened to her?"

"She worked herself to death trying to appease her _loving_ sister." He said dryly

"Well I guess we have something in common now." Touka gave him a comforting look.

Kaneki looked at her smugly. "What? That we're both orphans?"

Touka shrugged. "Well… yeah."

Kaneki then pinched the bridge of his nose. "We both like coffee, and we're both orphans." A sly smirk formed on his lips as his previous emotions quickly diminished. "I guess we'd make a good couple."

A faint tinge of pink colored Touka's cheeks before she smirked at the surprisingly flirty boy before her. "Who knew you had a flirty side Kaneki."

This caused the accused boy to raise his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm just joking around.

Touka then tilted her head to the side and gave him a funny look. "Relax, like I'd ever think a nerd like you would ever get a girlfriend."

Kaneki comically placed a hand on his chest feigning hurt. "That's a low blow Touka-chan. Not to brag, but I did go on a date with Rize-chan."

The she-ghoul merely smirked at him, as she placed her feet at the dining table, and leaned back resting her weight on her chair.

"I'm pretty sure she just went out with you to eat your scrawny ass."

Kaneki opened his mouth to protest but found no words coming out from it. He narrowed his eyes at the girl who seemed to have no proper etiquette. "You win this round Kirishima."

Touka smirked at him in victory, to Kaneki's displeasure. "Honestly, I'm rather surprised."

"Surprised about what?" He asked her.

"You have so many sides to you. One moment you're reading in the corner like a quiet bookworm, then suddenly you're fully clad in black kicking CCG ass with a serious look on your face."

Kaneki merely blinked at the girl as he took a sip of his coffee.

"It's almost as if you have some sort of multi-personality disorder or something."

Kaneki chocked on his drink at the rather descriptive observation Touka gave him. He didn't know if she was a good judge of character, or his change in demeanor was just that blatantly obvious.

* * *

After some rather awkward moments regarding the shower. Touka and Kaneki left the apartment and headed straight for Anteiku.

The streets of the 20th ward where as busy as it usually was, even for a Sunday. People walked along the streets dressed in their different respective attires. Everything was as it usually was, except one thing.

Although few in numbers, doves dressed in black and white walked amongst busy streets. He noticed the new evident tension in Touka's shoulders everytime they walked passed a group of doves in patrol.

He knew that the uneasiness that his companion felt was not just being nervous at being caught. Touka's been in the ghoul world far longer than he has, she would've been used to these situations, especially with how well she blended in with human society.

No, she wasn't scared that she'd be caught by the doves, she was guilty for causing them to come here in the first place.

Kaneki placed a comforting hang on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't be too hard on yourself Touka-chan." She turned to face him and he saw the worried expression she had on her face. "Sure, we caused a ruckus but I heard that there were zero casualties in the news, if we lay low for awhile, I'm sure they'll leave the 20th ward alone again."

This seemed to reassure the lavender haired girl as her shoulders slumped a bit. "You really think so?"

He didn't just think so. If memory serves right, he worked for the CCG for years. He knew how the system worked, and it would probably benefit him in the future.

"Yeah, and I'm sure we'd be able to pull it off. I mean other than what's been recently occuring, the 20th ward's been relatively peaceful."

She then let out a sigh as she continued walking. "I guess so."

Kaneki smiled to himself. It felt good to know he was able to comfort Touka in some way, despite knowing he had a long way to go, it was nice to know he was making progress.

As the pair made their way through, Kaneki couldn't help but steady his breathing as the uneasy feeling in his chest grew.

He couldn't quite understand where the weighing feeling came from, so he simply shrugged it off as the result of their encounter last night.

When they arrived at Anteiku, they were surprised to find Yomo's car parked outside and the cafe to be apparently closed.

They made their way into the cafe as the chiming of bells signaled their entry. Once inside they were greeted by the all present staff of Anteiku.

Irimi was the first to move. She made her way towards Touka and promptly shoved her fingers at the poster girl's face followed by a verbal smackdown. "What the hell were you thinking when you attacked those investigators?! Where you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"I'm sorry..." Touka said as she looked down towards the floor. "You better be, because you just caused a whole lot of trouble young lady." And in one quick motion she looked towards Kaneki with a glare. "And you."

Kaneki gulped as he prepared himself for the incoming sermon Irimi was about to give him. "Good job." His jaw hung at the unexpected compliment given to him. "I don't know you very well yet Kaneki-kun, but you just saved Ryouko and Touka, so for that I give you my thanks."

Kaneki sighed in relief as he scratched the back of his head. "Thank you Irimi-san." The older woman nodded before heading back to Koma's side.

He then turned to the manager who didn't say anything but gave him the 'we're going to talk later' look. He probably had a lot to explain, especially since his recent stunt last night.

The sound of footsteps caused all members present in the room to look towards the staircase, as Ryouko followed closely by Hinami made their way down stairs. Despite her heavy injuries from a few days ago, she was looking relatively fine albeit the slight limp in her step.

If there was one thing advantageous about being a ghoul, it was how inhuman their abilities were. If you take away the constant need to eat human meat, and the life of living in the shadows from the CCG, being a ghoul had its perks really.

She seemed to have immediately noticed Kaneki, because as soon as she made her way downstairs, she made her way towards Kaneki and gave him lowered her head as she politely bowed to him. "Thank you so much Kaneki-kun." She raised her head and met his eyes with her welling ones. "If you probably never came around, who knows what could've happened to Hinami."

He raised his hands in embarrassment as a tinge of red appeared on his cheeks. "Theres no need for that Ryouko-san, I just came in to help." He then looked towards everyone else present in the room. "I'm sure any of us would've done the same thing."

He then saw the teary-eyed form of Hinami rush towards him and nearly tackled him with a hug. "O-Onii-chan! Thank you so much for saving mommy."

He crouched to one knee to meet her height as he ruffled her hair. "I'm just glad to know you're safe Hinami-chan." After a few heartwarming moments, Kaneki broke the hug he had with his pseudo-sister and turned towards Ryouko.

"So, what are you going to do now?" He asked.

Ryouko's smile slightly wavered as she held both of her hands together. "I'll be leaving Anteiku for awhile."

This caused everyone in the room but the manager and Yomo to have a look of surprise on their faces at Ryouko's statement.

"But where will you be going!?" The question came from Touka who looked as equally bewildered as he was.

"I don't really know to be fairly honest." Ryouko paused as she collected herself. "All I l know is that, as long as Hinami's with me, she'd be in constant danger."

"And Hinami? Who's going to be taking care of her?!" Touka said with clear distress evident in her voice.

This time the manager spoke up. "Ryouko-chan already spoke to me about it. Starting today Hinami-chan will be living with us here in Anteiku."

Touka clenched her fists before coming to stop. She must have understood the situation. The doves have a character profile on Ryouko, as long as Hinami stayed with her mother she'd be at constant risk of being captured or worse, killed.

The room was silenced as Hinami's whimpering filled the air. The younger girl nearly tackled her mother to the ground. "M-mom! You can't go!"

Ryouko gently massaged Hinami's amber locks trying to reassure her. "I'm sorry Hinami-chan." Tears started to form on her own eyes. "Mommy has to go for awhile ok? Don't worry, I'll try to visit as much as I can."

Hinami hugged her mother even tighter. "Please don't go!" Ryouko started to sob as she held her daughter tighter. "I can't lose you too."

Ryouko gently pulled from the hug and wiped away the tears on Hinami's face. "You're not losing me, you understand? I promise you'll see me again."

Neither member of Anteiku broke the tender moment shared by both mother and child. As they silently held their own feelings towards the situation of their friend.

It wasn't long before the mother and daughter shared their final goodbye as Ryouko entered Yomo's car and the two left.

Kaneki held unto Hinami's hand as they watched the black car step out of their view. Hinami was still crying, and she knew it would take her some time before she could cope with the departure of her mother.

He would know he lost his mom once too.

And now he sat across the table from the manager, both had a cup of coffee in their hand.

The manager's perfectly blended coffee entered his lips, it's bittersweet flavor traced his tongue. "As delicious as always manager."

The manager gave him a grandfatherly smile. "Thank you Kaneki-kun." He placed his own cup at the tabletop between them. "Do you know why I called you here?"

A weighing feeling spread throughout his chest as the manager's tone was laced in suspicion. He knew he had to be careful with his next words lest he break the trust the man gave him. "Is this about the incident with the doves Yoshimura-san?"

He rarely called the manager by his name. Even from his past memories, Kaneki rarely blurts out the manager's real name unless the conversation was serious.

This was one of those serious conversations.

"You are correct Kaneki-kun." The man's face then softened. "Despite your disturbance of the peace that we try very hard to maintain in the 20th ward, your actions weren't uncalled for. In fact, I should be thanking you really."

Kaneki expected this response as the manager had a similar reaction after he and Touka's escapade in his memories. Although in that time, there were more casualties despite the smaller circumstance.

"Sure, you probably caused the biggest man hunt in the 20th ward in the last 10 years. But there were no casualties, and more importantly." The manager took out a newspaper and placed it on the table showing Kaneki the frontpage. "You made a good example of us ghouls by saving that investigator."

 _Masked figure saves investigator_. He wasn't surprised that the headline tried its best to avoid using the word ghoul. The CCG tried its best to cover up any information describing what ghouls were to the general public, unfortunately for them, Kaneki's recent stunt probably gave their public relations office a lot of problems.

"I do have a question for you Kaneki-kun." The manager broke him from his thoughts. "You see, I'm very thankful that you saved Ryouko-chan and Touka-chan, but it seems very coincidental for you to show up just in time to save the both of them."

And there was the suspicion. He couldn't blame the manager really. The man took care of Anteiku's staff like they were his own. So, it was perfectly understandable for the man to lay his suspicions on him.

"On my way to Anteiku, I saw the investigators around the block and I got worried when Ryouko and Hinami went out, so I decided to follow them." He half-lied to the manager. "And Touka-chan vent out her frustrations on me and accidentally told me her plans, so I may have followed her, just in case she did something stupid."

He crossed his fingers and hoped the manager bought his prepared lies. Due to his last slip up, he thought out a believable story just in case something like this came up.

The manager paused for a moment before nodding his head. "You have very perceptive intuitions Kaneki-kun, and I'm thankful for that."

Kaneki silently sighed to himself as he leased the tension from his shoulders. "Well that would be all Kaneki-kun, the shop's close for the day so go take the day off." The manager smiled at him.

"Thank you, Yoshimura-san." He politely bowed an exited the room.

* * *

"Gregor's transformation has been interpreted by some as the result of a subconscious desire to escape the pressure of being the breadwinner in his family." His professor walked around the theatre as he discussed the analysis of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis.

Kaneki was rather indulged in his discussion as he can relate to the main protagonist's own dilemma.

It was almost coincidental for the plot of his class's topic at hand to be almost a exact reflection of what he had to go through ever since his transformation into a half-ghoul.

It's almost as if some divine entity devised his life inspired by Kafka's own book.

He shook his head at his absurd thoughts and brought his attention to Hide.

The dirty blonde sat next to him reading one of Ogura's books about ghoulkind.

He didn't notice it in his past memories, but he realized that before the steel beam incident, Hide never really took much interest in ghouls. Although when he looked at how things are now, he realized Hide was more perceptive than he thought to be.

All that time, Hide was suspicious he was a ghoul. It all made sense now that he thought about it.

He wondered if his best friend already started coming into assumptions of him being a ghoul. A wallowing feeling of regret filled his chest as he realized just how much of a great friend the blonde was as he silently vowed to himself to prevent Hide from meeting his fate the way he did.

"Kaneki?" The said blonde broke him from his thoughts. "You alright buddy? You've been spacing out for almost a minute now."

A tinge of embarrassment spread through Kaneki as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh, yeah sorry about that."

Hide merely smiled as he shook his head. "Don't worry about it Neki, say what do you think about the thing that happened in the news. About the ghoul saving an investigator?"

He wondered to himself whether if Hide asked him that because he was starting to grow suspicious of him being a ghoul. "I think it's rather nice to know that not all ghouls are as bad as we think they are."

"But ghouls still pose a threat to humans." He looked back to his book and stopped on a page. "It says here that ghouls can only consume human flesh."

He sighed as his friend pushed the topic. "I think that ghouls can be reluctant towards eating humans." His thoughts drifted to a memory of Hinami's diary. "I mean it must be hard having to live that way, it's not like they have a choice in the food they can eat."

Hide blinked at him for a few moments, with a look of awe striking his face. "Wow Kaneki... Just last month you barely even knew what a ghoul was."

His jew clenched as he realized his slip up. He really had to be more careful with how he interacted with the people at his current time. He gave a nervous chuckle at his friend. "I guess you could say I got curious."

"Kaneki-san, Nagachika-san, is there something you'd like to share with us?" The two students looked towards the direction of their glaring professor.

"Sorry sir, Hide just asked me a question about why Gregor even turned into a bug in the first place." Kaneki immediately blurted out his excuse hoping it would work.

The professor tilted his head to the side obviously not buying it. "Well why don't you share your response in the class then."

Kaneki sighed to himself. He rarely got into trouble at school, let alone get scolded for not paying attention. His scholarship to Kamii doesn't come without a price of course. "Ah well..." He began. "You see Gregor..."

* * *

(Shuu POV)

The heir to the Tsukiyama family calmly walked along grounds of Kamii University.

A few women turned their heads to him as he passed by. Shuu was quite used to this, as he was fairly confident about his looks himself.

Now what would someone like him be doing in a place like Kamii you ask? Well he heard from one of his sources that a rather peculiar ghoul studied here. Someone who singlehandedly shook the ghoul world in one night.

"Kamii university huh?" He blurted out to himself. "Surely he was enrolled here."

The rumors of the Eyepatch ghoul spread like wildfire. Personally, he took it upon his vast resources to find his whereabouts.

It didn't take him long to find someone who matched his identification.

A lone student sat amongst one of the benches reading a book. The student had raven black hair that reached just slightly above his eyes, he had a rather lean build as he sat there wearing rather simple clothes.

The person had a rather intellectual appearance to him. He had to admit his guise was rather good as he wouldn't easily be suspected of ever being a ghoul.

"Kaneki-kun." Shuu called out to him as he sat at the table next to him. "Yo."

It was brief but Shuu noticed the look of recognition in his eyes. Could it be that they've met before? He was fairly certain that this was the first time he's ever interacted with him.

"Good afternoon..." He pointed an open palm towards Shu, politely asking for his name.

"Tsukiyama Shuu." He briefly stood up and sat down on the proper bench. "Is it okay if I sit down?"

"Help yourself." He then placed his book down and looked him directly in the eyes. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of having the infamous Gourmet before me."

Shuu's eyes briefly widened in surprise before steadying himself. "My, my, I guess it was rather silly of me to not expect such from the rather trending Eyepatch after all." He paused as he pointed his finger at Kaneki. "To answer your question, I'm here to meet you."

Truth be told, he was here to find out about some things about the ghoul before him. He was fairly interesting to say the least, and it indulged him enough to pursuit after him.

"One would think that a ghoul of your caliber would have other intentions in mind, wouldn't they Shuu-kun" Kaneki said rather smugly.

This guy was good. He mentally sighed to himself as he realized this would end up being a more difficult task than he acknowledged.

"It's perfectly understandable to have that mindset given our world after all." He briefly inspected the book Kaneki was reading. " But I'm here to hopefully make a friend, to say the least. Is that a book of Sen Takatsuki you're reading?"

The boy in question raised his attention to the book at his hand. "You could say I'm a big fan. Are you an avid reader yourself?"

Shuu smirked inwardly as he found a topic the two could converse with. So, the Eyepatch like to read, fortunately for him he was rather well versed with literature himself.

"Ah yes, you could say fiction helped me as I went through hard times. You see..." He curled his hands together as he leaned on them. "I happen to have met the author myself having met her a few times in the past. There's this cafe that she goes too occasionally. The owner of the cafe loves books, and it blends well with the smell of coffee. Perhaps we could go there sometime?"

He studied Kaneki for a moment and was rather surprised when he smiled at him. "I don't see why we shouldn't Shuu-kun."

Shuu smiled and placed a calling card next to Kaneki's book. "That's great to know! Just call me when you're free." He then stood up from his seat. "Well if you excuse me Kaneki-kun I have some business to take care off."

"I'll see you soon then Shuu-kun."

As he walked to the gate of the campus he couldn't help but feel like Kaneki had other intentions in mind. The ghoul was rather interesting, but what he didn't like was how he looked at him like he knew what his intentions are.

He shrugged as he entered the vehicle waiting for him outside. He'll just have to find out himself.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

Kaneki blinked as he stared at the masked figure that tried to scare him.

He was in the 14th ward. Having accompanied Yomo to the Helter Skelter at the request of Itori. Once they entered the place, Kaneki was greeted by a grotesque looking mask that he was rather confident that Uta made.

Needless to say the woman looked disappointed once she took of her mask. "Aww, Uta-kun, your mask isn't working." Itori pouted.

"I'm fairly sure it's just Kaneki-kun being immune to these sorts of things." Uta said as he stood next to Itori.

This seemed to immediately change the demeanor of the rather buxom woman. "Oh, this kid is the one mentioned before! Eyepatch-kun from Anteiku!"

The group made their way towards the Helter Skelter and sat among the stools.

"Well this is my shop so you can relax here Kanekichi!" Itori said to him.

"I'm not Kanekichi Itori-san." Kaneki commented.

Itori ignored this and continued. "But I'm really happy you came to meet me Kanekichi! Uta-san and Yomo-san have been saying a lot about you, they said you were cunning."

Kaneki sheepishly scratch the back of his head at the compliments he got from the rather beautiful woman. Aside from the times he seeked out information from Itori, he never really interacted much with her.

Although he knew that she, along with Uta, we a part of the clowns. And after finding out what they did during the clown siege, he guessed they weren't a good bunch.

Despite that, those events have yet to occur, so he chose to keep a close eye on the clowns instead.

"Thank you, Itori-san, it's nothing really."

"Nothing? You have to be kidding me, after what you did just a few days ago and all that." She stepped in dangerously close to him, her face only inches from his eyes. "You really know how to make an example of us ghouls, no?"

A small tinge of pink colored its way into Kaneki's cheeks at the close proximity to the older woman. She then leaned backwards and spoke up excitedly. "So, are you going to show me your eye?! Uta-kun told me about it."

Kaneki sighed as his left eye flared activating his kakugan. This caught the attention of everyone present in the room as they all observed his lone kakugan.

"Amazing! It!s the first time I've seen a one eyed ghoul!" She took a sip from her wine glass. "I guess it's true what they say about one eyed ghoul's being stronger then."

"Stronger? And why would you say that Itori-san?" He asked seemingly curious to her answer.

"Well, you know how ligers are stronger than a lion and a tiger?" He nodded. "We've all seen the news Kaneki-kun, not a lot of ghouls can come out alive after being hunted down by the entire police force of even the 20th ward. Whether you like it or not, you've made a rather dangerous name for yourself in both ghoul and human world." She warned.

His jaw clenched at her statement. She was right, unlike his past memories where he laid low from the CCG until after he joined them, he pretty much exposed himself early on, and now everybody knew he existed.

"You played a dangerous game Kaneki-kun." Itori continued. "I hope you'll be able to see to the consequences of your actions."

He briefly closed his eyes as her words echoed through his mind. He was prepared for this, if he wanted to change the future, he had to make as many big changes in the world as he can. He swore to himself that he wasn't going to fail anyone again.

He opened his eyes and a look of determination spread through his eyes. "I'm well aware of that Itori-san." His voice was determined, and everyone perked their attention towards him. "If I have to live with a target in my back, if I have to tread right next to death in every step I make, then I will." He scooped up his untouched glass of wine and brought a few sips to his lips.

"I'd willingly take on even Arima, if it means saving the people I care about." He said his speech in a way that would make any revolutionary proud.

He noticed Yomo flinch slightly at the mention of his name, but the man remained stoic.

Itori broke the moment as she raised her glass. "As expected from the overnight famous Eyepatch-kun! To Kaneki-kun!"

The clang of glass was heard as the members cheered for the raven haired half-ghoul.

* * *

Kaneki left the Helter Skelter by himself.

Apparently Yomo had some business to take care off and that left him to walk his way home all by himself.

Needless to say, it was a rather eventful day for him. He met Shuu and Itori once more, and it was a nostalgic feeling.

He knew Shuu wanted to find some information towards him, and interacting with the man any further would eventually lead to getting into the ghoul restaurant.

He wondered how it would end up this time, with the strong image he presented about himself to both the human and ghoul world.

This was also the main reason Itori brought him to the Helter Skelter. She probably found out about Shuu's recent interaction with him and told him that she'd be willing to trade information in exchange for the whereabouts of the ghoul restaurant.

And he took it without hesitation. Once he finds out where Furuta was, he was going to make sure that man never hurt anyone again.

He already knew where the ghoul restaurant was, but he needed to sound believable. He couldn't just blurt out that he k ew knowledge about the futre.

But imagine how much Itori would pay for him to tell her, if she ever found out.

He noticed that there were some changes to the recent events, but he couldn't grasp how both timelines had similar events going through them.

He had already made vast changes to his world, especially since his recent stunt with the CCG.

Kaneki had a feeling that it was going to bite him in the ass soon, and he knew it.

Then suddenly out of nowhere, a sharp painful scream was heard from the parking lot close to him.

Apparently, his day wasn't quite finished yet. He bolted to the source of the scream that sounded deathly familiar to him.

* * *

 _ **This took awhile to update didn't it? I apologize for the long wait, things have been busy but alas! Another chapter for you to hopefully read.**_

 _ **I gotta admit guys, I had a hard time writing this chapter. It's just the lack of action makes it hard to be motivated so I hope this chappie doesn't bore the heck out of ya'll.**_

 ** _I really appreciate the reviews/follows/faves guys, thank you so much for supporting the story. It's really nice to know this fic's gone past a hundred followers already! will ya look at that._**

 ** _Anyways I wanted to answer some questions some of you have asked in reviews so here it is_**

 **Q: Will Kaneki turn into a kakuja?**

 _ **I'm actually fairly excited for that- *ehem* nothing. Nope have no idea what you're talking about.**_

 **Q: Will anyone die in this fic?**

 _ **It's tokyo ghoul guys. It won't be fun and gory if nobody dies.**_

 **Q: Will Kaneki cannibalize in this story? We don't see any scenes about him eating and stuff.**

 _ **It's not really a spoiler to put it in here but yeah. At the current events of this fic, Kaneki's only been eating the corpses provided to him by Anteiku. And I can't really give Kaneki any power ups if that's the only thing he ate so stay tuned.**_

 **Q: What the hell is with Mado's reaction?**

 _ **You guys really pointed this out didn't ya? Well you're all correct! So 50 points to whatever your pottermore house is. I even stated it the last chapter, it was very OOC, but it was intentional. As to why I made such a bold move, well... You'll find out soon so stay tuned. (But really though please stay tuned.)**_

 **And yeah, that's some of the questions ya'll have been asking so that's pretty much it for the Author's notes. Please Review and stay tuned for the next chapter, I promise you'll get it before Christmas! And if you don't, well I'm prolly dead by then.**

 **P.S thanks to hoobab for pointing out a typo there. I accidentally changed Helter into better. Since the chapters only been up for a few hours I edited it and reuploaded the chapter. Thanks again!**

 **P.S.S ok so I left another 'better skelter', typo so here's another 'edit' update. Thanks To Shinichi's Lover for that.**

 **Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui**


	9. Chapter 9: Gourmet

"Hang on Nishio-senpai." Kaneki grunted, placing more pressure on the man's gaping wound as he supported his weight through the long flight of stairs.

Nishiki could only moan in pain, his teeth gritting hard enough against each other to almost break. Every step they took brought him closer and closer to feinting. His very own blood staining the cold metal staircase leading to his apartment.

His upperclassmen's skin started to get dangerously pale, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the loss of blood from his wounds to get to him.

Kaneki only managed to save him just in time before he became the next course for the cannibalistic ghouls earlier. He saw it coming, he knew it was going to happen even, and yet time and time again he could only manage to show up just in the nick of time to save the day.

Despite getting temporarily lobotomized by Arima, Kaneki could still briefly recall events that transpired in his past, and he was sure as hell that there weren't that many ghouls trying to eat Nishiki the previous time.

He was fairly confident that Nishiki would've been ghoul chow by now if he never got to show up to save him.

The sight of the horrible state of his friend brought pangs of guilt into his chest. He shouldn't have recklessly attacked Nishiki like that. If he probably tried hard enough he could've knocked the man out instead of the heavy wound he inflicted on him.

He told himself that he would've saved everyone, but not long after being given a second chance, he already severely hurt one of the people he swore to protect.

"We finally made it Nishio-senpai." Kaneki reassured his friend as they walked to the door of his apartment.

Nishiki coughed blood and Kaneki wiped it off with his left sleeve. "Y-you bastard… why…are you helping me… I'll get you back for this." Nishiki struggled, with the words barely coming out from his mouth as he fought to stay awake.

Kaneki sighed to himself. Of course Nishiki's antics would be the only thing that didn't change. The man could at least be a little grateful for him saving his ass.

He took the key from Nishiki's pocket and hastily opened the door as they entered the apartment. The place itself was small, only being a studio complex, and looking around you could see different sorts of things scattered around the small space.

He gently laid Nishiki down unto his futon, and immediately stood up and looked for any possible form of first aid.

But before he could take his first step, a dark figure suddenly appeared and small electric sparks lit up as it quickly approached him.

Instincts took over, and Kaneki grabbed the wrist of the assailant and swept his leg under the figure's own knocking him to the floor.

Then suddenly a woman's voice was heard as the figure grunted in pain as she reached the floor. He quickly stood up and let go as he realized who the figure was.

"I'm sorry, you really shouldn't have snuck up on me like that." He apologized as he offered his hand to help her up.

The girl turned around and stared at him for a few moments before taking it and pulling herself up. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I thought you were the narcissistic man."

"K-Kimi." A pained moan came from Nishiki as he looked at her.

Kimi's face paled at Nishiki's bloody and beaten form. "What happened to him!?" She cried out in panic at her lover's condition.

"He was attacked." Kaneki stated calmly and placed a comforting hand on Kimi's shoulder. "Right now, he needs help. Do you have any first aid around here?"

Kimi looked at him skeptically for a few moments before nodding her head and quickly scurrying around the apartment, and came back to Kaneki not long after, holding a first aid kit.

"I need you to apply pressure on the wound on Nishiki's stomach, you got that?" She nodded and knelt down next to her lover and took out a pair of medical scissors, cutting through Nishiki's shirt.

"This will hurt a bit love." She gingerly placed a hand on his cheek before grabbing a towel and pressed her hands down on his largest wound.

Nishiki screamed in agony and Kaneki walked towards Nishiki and knelt down next to him. "What are you doing?!" Kimi asked him.

Without saying a word, he dug his nail into the palm of his hand and kept it there as blood started to pour out from the wound.

He then brought it to Nishiki's mouth and let the crimson liquid pour into him. This caused a cry of outburst from Kimi, but he ignored her as he continued to pour his own blood into Nishiki's mouth.

Kimi's outburst soon stopped as Nishiki's wounds slowly began to heal, albeit slowly, but it was enough for him to stop bleeding before he shortly passed out.

"It won't be enough, he'll need to eat flesh for him to fully recover." He saw the look Kimi's face and knew she was starting to think the wrong idea. "There's a cafe here called Anteiku, if you can convince him to go there, we can help him."

Kimi looked at Kaneki differently from earlier. A questioning gaze was evident on her eyes, she looked to be in deep thought, and he had a feeling he knew what she had in mind.

"Kaneki-san, you're a ghoul, aren't you?"

Right on spot, just like before.

"Are you afraid I'd eat you?" He said as he half-smirked at her.

"No, I…" She paused for a moment and momentarily looked at Nishiki. "I heard it from Nishiki-kun."

Kaneki then scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Then he must've told you about the wound on his stomach." He looked down on the ground in guilt and shame. "I'm sorry about tha-"

Before he could finish, Kimi grabbed his hands and lowered her head. "I beg you!" She then brought her face up to meet Kaneki's. "Please keep quiet about everything, and I will not say anything about you."

"Oh…" Was all he could say. He then realized what she was implying and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder once more. "Don't worry, I understand. You're also scared because you could also get in trouble for harboring a ghoul right?"

This caused Kimi to look at him in surprise before she nodded. HIs gaze then shifted towards the unconscious form of Nishiki. "You must really care about him if you were willing to stay with him even after finding out that he's a ghoul."

Kimi let out a shriek as her face began to fluster at his words. Kaneki couldn't help but let out a bemused smirk at her cute antics. "I-I do… I want to stay by his side…"

"You know you'll only probably make yourself miserable by doing this right?" Kaneki said rather bluntly towards her.

In his past memory, Nishiki told him about his relationship with Kimi. The guy never dated anyone after breaking up with her, he must've really cared about her and was probably still in love with Kimi, after all those years.

He didn't know why he said those words, but what came shortly after made him realise that he still had a lot to learn about love.

"I know." Kimi's eyes lit up with devotion as she said those words. Her face turned serious and a her hand was placed firmly on her chest. "Nishiki-kun's all I have. I lost my family not too long ago… It made me depressed and if it weren't for him then I probably would've joined them in the afterlife."

Kaneki flinched when Kimi started to cry and immediate pangs of guilt bit into his heart at the sight. He hated it when girls cry, and seeing Kimi look like this made him feel terrible about himself.

"I-I love him Kaneki. I'd do anything for us to be able to stay together." She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Kaneki's mind process for something to do. He couldn't leave her like this, so left with no option he stretched his arms out and did a very Haise thing to do.

Kimi saw what he was offering and let him pull her into a friendly comforting embrace. He didn't want Nishiki to suddenly wake up and have the wrong idea, so he made sure to keep his distance, and he gave her comforting pats on her back.

"I'm sorry Kimi-senpai, it wasn't my place to judge your feelings for him like that." He said as he gently pulled away from the teary-eyed girl.

Kimi wiped the last tears from her eyes, and he was relieved to know that she stopped crying. "It's alright Kaneki-kun, you were just voicing out your concern."

Kaneki began to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm still sorry, that was rude of me." He then pulled out a pen and paper from his pocket and wrote down his number on it. "Please consider my proposal earlier, Anteiku is a place where we can help ghouls like Nishio-senpai. If you find yourself in any form of trouble, don't hesitate to call."

Kimi then took the note from him. "Thank you Kaneki-kun. I'll be sure to tell Nishiki-kun that."

* * *

"Two iced coffees please" Shuu said as the waitress approached them.

It was the day he promised to go with Tsukiyama to the coffee shop. Before heading there, the two had a little game of squash, to which ended with Kaneki nearly beating the more experienced ghoul.

"The ice will help us cool off, so we'll be able to enjoy the taste of the blend." Tsukiyama then proceeded to fan himself with his hand. "As expected I'm hot too."

Kaneki relaxed himself on his chair. "Well, you're the one who insisted to play before we got here."

"Well, I believe sports are a good way to bond together with a new friend." He then pointed his palm towards Kaneki. "You're pretty good at sports, I might say I'm rather impressed even."

Kaneki shrugged and waved it off. "Well you know what they say, before you train the mind, you must first train the body."

"Well that's quite the interesting philosophy you have there." Shuu said.

"Sorry for the wait." The waitress returned holding two glasses of iced coffee for the two of them.

Tsukiyama thanked the waitress and took a sip from the coffee. "That's refreshing. So how is it? It's a perfect place for reading isn't it?"

Kaneki looked around the cafe. It definitely had a cozy atmosphere to it, with all the books and coffee on display. This place really aimed to attract readers like himself.

"Well it has a nice atmosphere to it. It seems like we won't be seeing Takatsuki though."

"That is unfortunate…" Tsukiyama said with a disappointed tone. His gaze then shifted to Kaneki. "With the way you dressed up, I was sure you were looking forward to meeting Takatsuki today."

"I'm not sure about what you're saying Tsukiyama-kun. I'm only wearing what I usually wear." Kaneki replied to the rather fashionable man.

He mildly understood what Tsukiyama was implying to him. If it were like it was in his past, he'd often wear a simple outfit. But after spending so much time wearing casual clothes during his days in the CCG, the style must've sunk into him.

"Well I'd say you're pretty good at dressing yourself up, you look very mature for your age with the way you look." Tsukiyama complimented him.

"Oh please Tsukiyama-kun, with the way you dress I'm but a shadow."

"Ah well, I believe that since we're _us_ we have to wear the highest class of clothing." Tsukiyama said with a rather dramatic motion.

Kaneki chuckled at his antics. "Well that's only if _we_ can afford to dress like you Tsukiyama-kun."

"Well you're right about that." Tsukiyama chuckled. "Don't hesitate to contact me if you need something to wear that you can't afford."

"I'm afraid that's rather embarrassing, I have my own pride to live for you know." The two laughed for a few seconds before the waitress approached them again and handed the two cups of blended coffee.

"I have a recommendation for you." He began to pull out pocket book from his jeans and placed it on the table in front of Kaneki. "Do you know of the French gourmet, Jean Anthelme Brilla-Savarin?"

"Oh, you mean the physiology of taste?"

"Looks like you've already read it." Kaneki then took the book and began to read through its first few pages. "The books of gourmets are of extraordinarily great interest to me. The tastes that I can never experience are exciting. And I can't imagine everything freshly. His saying 'a dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with one eye, also makes me deeply interested."

"I can see where you're coming from, especially living as a ghoul."

"Yes!" Tsukiyama then raised his hands at chest level. "For us what is the cheese, what stands as the very essence of the desire to eat?" He said rather passionately.

"I would say survival." Kaneki then took a sip of his coffee.

Tsukiyama stopped and stared at him with keen interest. "Survival?"

"We're ghouls Tsukiyama-kun. We either eat or die. And living in a human civilization means having to tread next to death just for us to survive." He flipped through some of the pages of the book, the text was rather adjective with how it described food, and he could tell it was written very well. "The way the author personifies food, you probably took this to a literal sense haven't you."

Tsukiyama then smiled. "It's just like you said Kaneki-kun. We're ghouls and we eat to survive. I'd say if we do something, then we might as well enjoy it."

Kaneki didn't agree with his philosophy. He was the mediator of the ghoul and human world. He had to understand the perspective of both sides, and he knew very well that ideas such as the ones given by Tsukiyama, only breeds more hatred from humans.

"I don't agree with your philosophy Tsukiyama-kun." He shrugged. "You know us ghouls of Anteiku, we don't really agree to killing humans."

Tsukiyama's interest peeked at the mention of the cafe. He had a feeling Tsukiyama already knew he worked there, but he decided to test the waters and mention it.

"Anteiku." Tsukiyama nodded his head, as if understanding the revelation. "Well that explains why there were miraculously no casualties during your incident with the investigators. Speaking of the cafe, would you happen to be close to someone called Touka Kirishima?"

Kaneki's eyes lit up at the mention of her name. "You could say she's a dear friend of mine."

The look in Kaneki's eyes was not unnoticed by Shuu. "Are you sure? With the look on your eyes I could say there's more to that. I knew her back when she was only fourteen you see. She was a feisty one, you could say I was head over heels for her."

Kaneki tried his best to hide the fluster in his cheeks. "Yeah… She's a dear friend. Helped me go through hard times a lot."

"I'm glad you found someone like that in your life Kaneki-kun." He then beamed at him with a smile. "Perhaps we could have a friendship like that one day."

"Perphaps we could Tsukiyama-kun."

And it did happen. There wasn't anyone Kaneki trusted to be his right hand man more than Tsukiyama. The man kept true to his word, and loyally stood by his side despite what he did to his family.

"May I borrow the book for a bit?" Tsukiyama then reached for the book that was in Kaneki's hands.

"Sure." As he took the book, he slightly grazed his finger with his nail causing it to bleed slightly. Kaneki narrowed his eyes for a second, but decided to play along with it.

Tsukiyama immediately stood up and proceeded to wipe the cut with his handkerchief. "Are you okay!? I'm so sorry."

Kaneki waved it off. "It's just a little cut, no big deal." He decided to bring up a topic he knew would bring out a reaction from Tsukiyama. "By the way, would you happen to know someone called Rize? She was an avid reader herself."

Tsukiyama then began to flinch at the mention of her name. "We talked for awhile, mostly about books and what we did before coming to the 20th ward…" Tsukiyama then began to tremble and cracks started to appear on the cup of coffee he was holding.

"Are you ok Tsukiyama-kun?" Kaneki asked him.

"Sorry I lost my cool…" Tsukiyama then sighed to himself. "Truthfully we had a favorable relationship but there were a few problems, since then we went our separate ways. How do you know her?"

"We dated for awhile…" Kaneki trailed off recalling the events that brought him into this world. "It didn't work out."

"I see…" He inspected Kaneki's cut and found that it fully healed. "It seems that your bleeding has stopped. I'll just go wash the handkerchief off."

He watched Tsukiyama excuse himself and he knew all the pieces were in place.

* * *

"Now then let's have some fun." Tsukiyama said as the two stood before the huge complex before them.

The ghoul restaurant.

It was a large building that looked rather dull on the outside. Passerby's would never assume it to be such a place where people were slaughtered sadistically.

"It seems that I don't have to worry about your clothes, so there won't be any need for you to change."

The doors to the restaurant opened and a man dressed in formal attire stepped out. "Good evening, sorry to keep you waiting." Tsukiyama then approached the man and whispered something into his ear.

Kaneki's eyes narrowed. He knew what they had in mind. His hand instinctively moved to his belt and then steadied himself.

"I understand." The butler then spoke up. "Please come this way." The man then gestured for Kaneki to follow him.

"Well then I'll see you later Kaneki-kun, I'll just fix up the reservation." Tsukiyama said as he proceeded to enter the building.

"I'll see you later Tsukiyama-kun." Kaneki then followed shortly after allowing himself to be directed by the butler.

It didn't take long before Kaneki found himself standing in front of a wooden door leading to a room. The butler gracefully opened the door and Kaneki stepped in.

"Oh, hello." A man in his early thirty's greeted him as soon as he saw him enter the room.

"Hello." Kaneki politely responded.

"Oh man, the two of us had just been told to wait her so it was a bit lonely." The man then took out a business card from his wallet and handed it over to Kaneki. "I'm making an editorial for the Shouei company's magazine _Tokyo Gourmet_ , I am Kobachi."

"Good evening Kobachi-san." Kaneki greeted the man, being careful not to mention his name.

"You seem pretty young, are you a college student maybe?" Kobachi asked him.

"I am."

"Even though you're a student you know a pretty amazing shop." He turned and faced the woman sitting on the chair. "That lady over there is young too. An acquaintance of mine who is really well-informed, introduced me to this place and brought me here. Though this is the first time I'm hearing about a restaurant being here."

"Me too." Kaneki stated. "Seems oddly coincidental don't you think."

"I know a lot of good shops in Tokyo." Kobachi continued. "But I can't believe there was one in a place like this."

"Even so Mitarai-san." Kobachi then faced the woman once more. "If we're going to have to wait around like this, It'd be nice if you talked a bit."

"I have a question." Kaneki spoke up and all eyes were turned towards him. "Where you told to come here after being split from the person you came with?"

"Oh yeah." Kobachi said. "At the entrance, I needed a suit and was told another room was being prepared so I was brought here."

Their attention shifted to the sound of the door opening, and a woman dressed in a French maid outfit stepped in. "Excuse me, I have brought some coffee before the meal. Please have a snack during your wait."

The woman then politely bowed to them and proceeded to exit the room. Kaneki's eyes narrowed, and he pondered for a moment.

He thought about warning the others about the current state they're in. It was dangerous for them to stay here. But if he warned them know they would panic and it would destroy his plans. So, he decided to keep quiet for now.

It wasn't long before they were moved in to another room. On the way there, he noticed the windows were barred and they were lead into a tunnel.

"Please wait here." The butler that accompanied them said as he exited the room. Kaneki didn't fail to hear the sound of the door being sealed shut.

"Hooh.. nice nice." Kobachi said seemingly impressed. "It has some grace."

Kobachi then walked towards the table and sat down towards one of the chairs. "But, we have to wait again? Gimme a break."

He noticed the woman with them by the door and seemed to struggle to open it. "The door is locked." She then began to panic. "What the hell? We can't get out of this place!"

They didn't have enough time left. He needed to do this soon, or everything would end up in chaos. He then took a black face mask from his pocket and placed it on himself, it was the one he used during his first encounter with Amon.

"Everyone." he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him. "Your lives are in danger, and if you want to live I'd suggest you stay close to me." He warned them.

"What?!" The outcry came from Kobachi. "What the hell do you mean by that? And what are you wearing?"

"You two are in a ghoul restaurant." As soon as he said that, the three adults widened their eyes in distress. "The main course is _you_. And if any of you want to live, then listen to me."

"Why the hell should we-" Kobachi was cut off by a PA system going off.

"Sorry for the wait." He recognised Tsukiyama's voice as the ceiling started to part.

The ceiling completely parted, and they were greeted by the sight of dozens of ghouls wearing different sorts of masks.

He looked around and saw the look of fear in his two companion's eyes. His gaze then shifted and looked at Tsukiyama dead in the eye.

"The man on the left is the editor of a gourmet magazine." Tsukiyama announced causing the man to shiver in fear. "He never fails to go to the gym when he's busy, his healthily toned body will have a chewy texture. Surely you could not dream up a better item for dinner than what we have lined up for you."

"The intermediary is TR-sama." A man then stood up and bowed to the audience. "Let's continue by looking to the right. As contrast to the previous item, we have some portly female meat, since she refused to take a shower, her body is covered in excessive oils, but we will remove it afterwards so please relax."

"The intermediary is PG-sama." A man dressed in a clown suit waved at the woman.

Kaneki's eyes shifted to a predatory glare. It was a clown, and the clown sounded dangerously familiar to _another voice_ he knew.

"You lied to me!" the woman screamed at the clown. "What about your promise to marry me! I thought today's dinner was surely about that!"

"Sorry, but I can't see a pig as an object of romantic interest." The clown said causing the woman to cry out more things in anger.

"And today's main course is a strange meat." Tsukiyama continued. "That of a ghoul! The intermediary is myself!"

This caused the audience to whisper in doubt. Most of them weren't particularly into cannibalism, and the practice was rare itself, even in the ghoul world. Tsukiyama handed them the handkerchief stained with Kaneki's blood and suddenly their opinion was turned around once they inhaled the aroma.

"Are you interested now? What kind of taste will a ghoul who has the scent of a human have?" Tsukiyama cried out as the audience agreed with him. "This is a new stimulus to your sense of smell and taste! This is surely an unknown taste!"

Kaneki calmly stood there as Tsukiyama continued his speech. He knew it was coming, and he was well prepared for what he was about to do.

"Shall we enjoy the ultimate gourmet meal?!" The crowd burst out in applause. "Now then, let us start the dinner show!"

As soon as the announcer finished, a large gate started to open revealing several figures inside. "Now, due to the special case of our main course, as informed to us by his intermediary we decided to use several scrappers for tonight's event."

The gate fully opened revealing six large brutes wielding different weapons. "Now then, please enjoy the scrapper's dismantling show!"

The crowd roared and it sickened Kaneki. He remembered Suzuya going through the same thing, being forced to kill for the sake of sadistic entertainment. He may be a bridge in between the two worlds, but he wasn't going to tolerate these kinds of things.

Before the scrappers could approach them, Kaneki reached for his belt and took out the object hidden within it.

The crowd was silenced when the crackling sound of electricity could be heard, and sparks danced wildly until a black and crimson blade formed on Kaneki's hand.

He stepped slowly and coldly towards the audience. His presence radiated power, enough to momentarily petrify even the scrappers.

"I'll give all of you the choice right now, just to be fair." Kaneki said dangerously as he pointed Izuki straight towards the audience. "Surrender now and burn this place to the ground, or die with it."

* * *

 _ **Merry Christmas everybody, Ha! I kept through my promise and made sure to update this before Christmas :D**_

 _ **Sorry for being so late, lots of stuff happened, and I couldn't find the time to open my computer.**_

 _ **And I know, I know... I tend to abuse the cliffhangers, just like what I did in the previous chapter, but hey, a lazy writers gotta do what a lazy writers gotta do.**_

 _ **Now first things first.**_

 ** _Holy shiiit, that's a lot of favorites and follows, and seriously thank you so much to all you guys who reviewed my fic! Guys I'll be honest here, I'm hella lazy and I usually get busy these days, but you guys keep me wanting to keep writing so thank you so much._**

 _ **So there are some of you out there wondering if Kaneki will have white hair, and well it won't be a Tokyo Ghoul fanfic if Kaneki didn't have that hair dynamic so ya'll have to wait.**_

 _ **Enjoy the holidays guys, I promise I'll keep the story going when the laziness doesn't hit me.**_

 _ **Oh and let's start a poll now shall we, this'll still be a Touken fic but I was thinking of adding some drama into it, so if you guys want to see some lovely romantic competition go and suggest a character in TG that you'd like to see soon. And if not then I'm sticking to the og plan.**_

 _ **Oh and if you guys notice some errors here and there, feel free to point them out. Just like the last chappie.**_

 ** _See ya next time!_**

 ** _P.S I accidentally placed three instead of two, and for those who noticed it, I'm sure you guys got a little confused. So this chapter's been updated. Thanks to Robso98 for pointing that out!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui_**


	10. Chapter 10: Raze

(Shuu POV)

Shuu froze in his steps as the restaurant exploded into chaos.

"You brought a dove here?" He heard a voice scream at him. Followed by several other voices joining in to berate him.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances befallen unto him, he couldn't help but smile with excitement at the twist of fate given to them by the man who dared to threaten them.

He's heard stories of the infamous Eyepatch, despite his only recent infamy. Some speculate him to be the One Eyed Owl, some even believe his right eye was cut out by the CCG's reaper himself, but most think of him as a dangerous madman.

And that madman stood before him, threatening to kill everyone if they don't surrender to him.

His blood pumped and a maniacal laugh escaped his lips. His colleagues could only look at him in shock and confusion.

"I assure you ladies and gentlemen, that man is no dove." Shuu then turned to face Madam A. "Shall we get on with the show mademoiselle?"

This seemed to relieve the tension off everyone's shoulders as they joined in with his laughter. "You're right." Madam A said as she turned to the five scrappers. "Kill that fool my babies!"

As the words escaped her lips, thunderous footsteps echoed throughout the stage as the scrappers rushed in towards the black clad ghoul.

The audience cheered for the onslaught that would soon approach Kaneki as he stood there calmly holding his quinque.

One of the scrappers charged at the ghoul, an abnormally large quinque saw raised in his hand, ready to cut his target in half. "Thiws is fo yu Mama!" The scrappers screamed with glee as he slammed his weapon into the ground where Kaneki stood.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

They expected the ghoul to have been foolishly sliced into pieces by the time the weapon was brought down by the scrappers inhuman strength. But only a black blur was seen, as blood sprayed out as the scrapper fell to the ground with his head cleanly decapitated.

It was marvelous.

Such skill was rarely seen even amongst the doves who wielded and crafted those weapons. Kaneki was a delicacy to the very core, everything about him spoke of rarity. He had to have him no matter what!

"My Taro-chan!" He heard Madam A scream in horror at the sight.

Kaneki didn't skip a beat as he quickly launched himself towards the remaining scrappers. An axe dove straight for him and he gracefully skidded himself right under, moving right between the large brute's legs.

A large thud was all that was left as a blade pierced right through the brute's chest. With quick succession, Kaneki danced around the large brutes and no sooner did the they watch as each one of them fall.

As the last of the scrapper's fell, the ghoul restaurant burst into chaos as each member attempted to flee towards the doors.

The sound of screams and flesh being cut was heard and Shuu immediately looked towards the source of the sound. Standing a few meters before him stood Kaneki, holding a one of the intermediaries by the throat with his blade impaled through his gut.

"You son of a bitch!" He heard a voice from behind him scream as a ghoul launched at Kaneki, his rinkaku raised to strike.

Before the man could even touch the ground, Kaneki's quinque extended itself as it pierced right through the ghoul's chest.

He found himself petrified for a moment. When he first met Kaneki, he remembered meeting a young yet kind and intelligent man. He was the type of person who you would be comfortable speaking to no matter what.

He was even a tad bit disappointed when he first met him. He expected a cold and menacing figure, as what the news described him to be. But now in contrast to that stood this killer.

And it excited him to the very end.

Imagine all the more he could learn about the infamous Eyepatch ghoul! How many more surprises does he have hidden beneath his sleeves. The mystery enticed him, and it made Kaneki more of a delicacy to him even more.

A maniacal grin spread through Shuu's face as he felt the familiar flare of his kagune bursting to life. "Kaneki!" He screamed, his kagune forming around his right arm taking the shape of a sword. "Show me more! I want to know all there is to know about you!"

He dashed towards Kaneki at near breakneck speeds. His grin turned feral as he closed the distance between them, with his arm posed for attack.

"As you wish."

Shuu found himself pushed back as he skidded his feet against the floor at the sheer force of Kaneki's blow striking against his kagune.

A serious of quick strikes shortly followed, as his opponent became relentless with his attack, cracks started to form on his kagune and Shuu was forced a few steps backwards as he narrowingly avoided a blade aimed for his chest.

"You know Tsukiyama-kun." He stared in confusion as Kaneki plunged his quinque into the pavement. "I don't just wear the eyepatch for show you know?"

Shuu's eyes widened as Kaneki's kagune burst into life with four crimson scaly appendages dancing wildly from his back.

In the instant, without even moving, Kaneki's kagune met his own and it shattered into a thousand pieces.

And as crimson closed in on his vision, he was awestruck at the sight of Kaneki's one glowing red eye.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

From his past memories, Kaneki dealt with the ghoul restaurant in a more violent and different manner.

Sure, he may have threatened to raze the place to the ground along with every member of the god forsaken place. But behind his threat he had better motives than the ulterior.

Back then he despised Aogiri, which brought him to despise similar organizations such as the ghoul restaurant. Having lived as a ghoul he grew to hate their cause, their motives only brought them on the wrong side of things and made the CCG right about everything humanity grew to hate about ghouls.

With human trafficking and butchery made into a form of entertainment, if he succeeded with his plan as the one eyed king from his other timeline then he would've made such things illegal, and strictly enforced.

Despite the second chance, his hopes and dreams for both of his kind still existed in his heart. And for such a dream as big as co-existence to come true. Things like the ghoul restaurant needed to be brought down.

He moved through the halls of the infamous restaurant like a reaper. Masked upper class ghouls who were reduced to nothing more than beggars pleaded for their life or foolishly tried to take him out.

Before he'd raze the place to the ground he'd have to find some answers first.

It must have been his nerves, but he didn't notice the ghoul wearing a clown mask back then.

And he would never forget how much chaos and destruction the clowns brought with whatever intention they had in mind.

"Please!" A woman begged him, she was cornered against the door, tears fell from behind her mask. "I'll give you anything you want! Just please let me go!"

He remembered his days after Jason tortured him and as the CCG's black reaper. Mercy was a concept that wasn't new to him. Ghouls and people alike have begged for their lives more times than he could count.

But he wasn't here to slaughter everyone like before. He was here to send a message to Tokyo, and you can't be heard if there were no witnesses.

Izuki pierced through the air as it directed itself towards the woman. He watched as she visibly flinched her head away, readying herself for her incoming death.

The splitting of wood was heard and the woman opened her eyes in relief to find his quinque pierce through the wooden door behind her.

"You seem like a person with a lot of connections, yes?" Kaneki said as he pulled out Izuki from the door.

"Y-Yes, I do!"

"Good." He then raised his hand over his face to cover his right eye as his left eye flared to life. "Tell everyone you know, ghouls and humans alike, that if they play around with people's lives, I'm coming for them."

A look of surprise flashed across her face as she stared as his flaring left eye. "E-Eypatch?"

Before Kaneki could say anything, his nerves sparked as he heard the sound a gunshots firing. He pushed the woman away as he rolled to the side, He stared at the figure that dared to attack him from the distance.

"Well speak of the devil." The clown stood at the far end of the stage, in front of him where the bodies of Mitarai and Kobachi, with him held a smoking uzi on his right hand.

"Whoops!" The clown spoke and Kaneki's eyes widened in recognition. "I guess I missed. Bye now!" The clown then fled to the steel door and sealed it shut.

Kaneki's fists clenched as his grip on Izuki tightened. He'd recognize that voice anywhere, that son of a bitch was there from the very start. The pavement cracked as Kaneki started to begin pursuit. Before he could come into assumptions, he needed to confirm his identity first.

He briefly glimpsed at the two dead corpses of Mitarai and Kobachi as he passed by them, a small shred of guilt tinged within him as he felt sorry for their inevitable deaths.

Kaneki slammed his fists against the sealed door. He gripped its rotor hard, and found the wheel couldn't barge as it was sealed from the other side.

Without wasting time, he took a step back and two crimson scaly appendages spawned from his back and launched themselves at the door.

The steel door never stood a chance as it crashed into the wall allowing entrance into the hallway that led to the lobby.

He heard panicked footsteps bounce across the near empty hallway. His kagune dissipated into a crimson fog, and his own steps reverberated the hall as he pressed on his pursuit.

It didn't take him long for him to catch up to fleeing clown, and his nearing approach wasn't unnoticed as a hailstorm of bullets were aimed at his direction.

Kaneki danced around the projectiles. They neared the end of the hallway and the doors swung open wildly as the clown went through them.

He entered the lobby, and found his target standing a few meters away from him, a gun pointed directly at Kaneki's head. "Checkmate."

Kaneki was just about to move when he heard the sound of the gun click.

"Oh shit." In an instant Kaneki's quinque found itself a few cm's from the clown's neck.

The clown raised his arms in a peace sign. "Super peace?" Izuki moved in closer to his neck. "Ok-ok-ok. No more jokes."

"Who are you and who do you work for?" Kaneki asked him. His quinque pressed dangerously to the clown's throat, daring him to even try moving.

The clown gulped. "Ah well, since you were so kind to ask." He said sarcastically which brought him a killer glare from Kaneki. "I'm Souta the clown!"

The sharp end of Izuki made its way towards Souta's chin, forcing him to look up. "Well, as for who I work for. Is the circus a convincing answer?"

Souta found Kaneki's hand grip unto his suit and he was violently thrown unto the wall. "You like joking around huh?" He said as he slowly walked towards Souta's lying form on the ground. "Now, there are some things that I'd like to find out. And whether you like it or not, you're giving them to me."

The clown yelped in pain as Kaneki stepped on his arm, keeping his hand in place. He raised his quinque atop his hand, threatening to drive it in. "Last chance. Tell me who you work for clown."

"Ok, ok, ok! I'll tell you!" Souta let out a nervous sigh. "I'm a part of this-"

Before Souta could finish what he had to say. The building shook as a loud explosion was heard, engulfing the place in fire.

* * *

Kaneki opened his eyes, and found himself leaning against a pillar. He found himself trapped and surrounded by a blazing inferno.

"What?" He said as he slowly raised himself up but found it difficult as a metal rod was pierced against his leg. "How did this happen?"

Kaneki took a deep breath and quickly pulled out the metal from his leg. He groaned in pain but found his leg already starting to heal.

He touched the side of his head and found small drips of blood on his fingertips. ' _The explosion must have knocked me unto the wall._ ' He thought to himself examining the burning lobby, trying to find a way out as he slowly raised himself up.

He coughed behind his mask, oxygen was rapidly fueling the fire in the room, and eventually it would start depriving him of oxygen. He may be a ghoul, but ghoul's needed to breathe too.

He briefly considered tearing against the walls. But quickly came to his senses, knowing that such a reckless move could very well bring down the building with him.

Kaneki found Izuki embedded unto the wall beside him. He let out a sigh of relief, it was hard enough to find a quinque, he didn't want to go through the hassle of encountering another investigator just to get one. And besides that, Izuki despite being rather simple, was a very proficient quinque that suited his fighting style.

The crimson and black quinque was deactivated and he holstered it back to his side. Kaneki limped towards the door and slammed his should into it, breaking it open.

Even with all the smoke polluting the air in the building. He could still smell the bodies being cooked by the fire, and he could even hear some cries of pain bounce across the burning hall.

He heard the ceiling crack and he jumped forward, barely avoiding the mix of burning wood and concrete crash against the floor.

"Shit." He cursed to himself as he stood up and quickened his pace. The building was starting to fall apart. And if it weren't for the many pillars that practically decorated the place, he was sure that a large structure such as this would've already tore itself down.

His nerves went off when he felt a hand grip unto his leg. Instinctively he looked down, and readied himself to strike. Then he found a man, who miraculously only had minor burns lay underneath a wooden pillar.

"Please." The man said weakly. "Help me." He looked directly at the man's face and when they met eyes, the man's face quickly shifted into a look of terror.

Kaneki leaned down, and the man flinched and closed his eyes. In an act of mercy and kindness, Kaneki gripped his hands unto the large piece of wood and slowly lifted it up, allowing the man to crawl out.

The man looked at him with surprise and confusion. And Kaneki, knowing the man was no longer trap, turned back to the hall and began to walk, leaving him alone.

He passed through burning rooms and charred bodies, and eventually he found himself reach the ends of the building. He could hear sirens from the streets as firemen started to come into the street.

He leaned against the window and allowed himself to crash into it. He rolled to the ground in pain, and breathed exasperatedly as clean air started to fill his lungs. He felt his wounds start to heal, and the burning sensation in his lungs started to dissipate.

He began to walk away from the now destroyed ghoul restaurant. He didn't know who caused the explosion, but whoever did made his job a little easier, despite the fact that he nearly died in there.

He was almost a block away when he noticed a figure stand a few meters from him.

"Monsieur Kaneki." It was Tsukiyama. Kaneki let out a sigh of relief knowing his friend was alive. The taller man elegantly knelt down and offered his hand to him. "If you are to forgive me for my sins against you, I would be honored to serve you."

"So you're the one that set the explosion off." He stated. It only made sense, he guessed Tsukiyama must have used the gas in the restaurant's kitchen to cause the place to go off.

"Yes." Tsukiyama admitted. "In an act of retribution, I wanted to help you raze the restaurant to the ground. Your words and your strength have awakened a new light in me."

He then looked up at him. "I could be useful Kaneki. Allow me to gain your trust again. I have resources and a network to provide to aid you in whatever means you'd like."

A brief sense of nostalgia filled his thoughts once more as the familiar scene replayed itself before him. He remembered that night, right after breaking out of Aogiri. That night was one of the biggest regrets in his life, when he foolishly set after his path of vengeance, which only destroyed his life in the long run.

And once more he was offered the same opportunity, but this time he would use it for a different cause. That and he knew how much Tsukiyama had changed back then. And despite their differences, and even after he contributed to the destruction of his family, the man still forgave him, and did whatever it take to help him.

He may be the way he is now. But he still saw Shuu as his right hand man, as his friend.

"It would be reassuring to have you as an ally. And I would appreciate your help. But…" He gave Tsukiyama a smug look. "If you try anything funny, I'll kill you, keep that in mind."

It was a blind threat, but Shuu didn't know that. A petrified look painted itself across his face before he quickly came back to his senses. "Y-you can count on my word."

Kaneki then took the hand Shuu offered and shook at as the taller man stood up. "Then this would be the start of a wonderful partnership Tsukiyama-kun."

* * *

(Souta POV)

"Well don't you look like you've been through hell." Itori said as she walked up to him from the counter and served him a glass of blood wine.

"I just got back." He said as he took off his mask, taking a sip at the drink given to him.

"I can see that your little your espionage didn't go well?" Uta joined in on the conversation. A bloody and gory eye was placed into his mouth as he began to joyfully chew on it.

Souta sighed. "That Eyepatch is quite the monster. Barely came out of it alive."

This caused Itori to near herself closer to him. "Eyepatch?! He was there?"

"Interested in him?" He chuckled teasingly. "I didn't know you were into younger guys. Or atleast he seemed young. I'll give you a tip, don't ever get on his bad side."

Itori glared at him and his chuckle died out. "He destroyed the ghoul restaurant." This caused a look of surprise to flash across Itori and Uta's face. "Turns out he was the main course. Guy pulled out a quinque and started killing everyone."

Uta whistled. "Never expected him to have that kind of side to him."

This caused Souta to turn to face Uta. "Wait, you know him?"

Before Uta could finish, Itori interrupted the two. "Save that for later, we have to make a change of plans now that the ghoul restaurant is finished."

Itori then turned and faced Souta. "I need you to do something for me Furuta-kun."

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

Kaneki steadied himself as he entered the door leading to Kanou's office.

Kanou turned to face him and gave him a warm and greeting smile. "Well I'm quite surprised that you finally showed up for a checkup Kaneki-kun, I was starting to get worried."

"Things have just been buys Kanou-san. Had to catch up with my classes after that long absence and all that." Kaneki said as he sat down in front of the doctor.

As much as he hated and despised the man, Kaneki needed to keep a low profile. He had to give the man a false sense of security with him. He was sure as hell that he knew about Rize, and possibly even hunted her down for his sick experiments.

He didn't know what other ulterior motives the mad man had. But among other things, it was something he needed to find out.

"Shall we start your checkup?" Kanou asked and Kaneki nodded his head.

They went through standard procedure. Kanou recorded Kaneki's height and weight. A couple checks here and there, and before they knew it, they were done.

"Well it seems that your vitals are in good condition. And you're a lot healthier than you were when you left the hospital." Kanou looked at him and gave him a smile. "Keep it up Kaneki, I'm glad for your progress with rehabilitation since the incident."

Kaneki gave a smug look to the man. "Well doc, you could say that my life's changed ever since the transplant."

Kanou raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so? By how much, if you mind me asking?"

"Well let's just say that I've been introduced to a whole new world." Kaneki said with a smile.

The doctor stared at him for a couple seconds before giving him a warm smile once more. "Well I'm glad for you then Kaneki-kun."

"I have one more question for you Kanou-san."

"Don't be afraid to ask anything." He then turned his chair to face Kaneki.

"Do you know where Rize-san is buried? I'd like to visit her grave to offer my respect."

Kaneki swore he could see Kanou flinch for a millisecond. He had to admit, the man may have one of the best poker face in the world, with how nonchalant he was to him.

"Well…" The man paused for a moment. "I'm afraid the relatives didn't give me the address, as the situation stood as they were. I'm sure you would understand, you seem like a smart young man Kaneki-kun."

Kaneki listened as Kanou practically lied through his teeth. "So she had a family?"

"I understand they had a lovely funeral service." He sighed. "But they didn't want to speak to me. It's unfortunate, but I don't blame them."

Kaneki briefly wondered if Kanou knew more than he let on. It was one of the things he needed to find out about the man.

"I see." Kaneki then stood up and walked towards the door. "Thank you for the checkup Kanou-san."

"I'll be seeing you in a month Kaneki-kun, you be careful now."

Kanek nodded his head at the doctor, and gave him a fake and gentle smile. Before turning around and exiting the room.

The doctor was going to see him far sooner than he thought.

* * *

 _ **Relax everyone, I'm not dead(yet, am kidding). I just got really busy with things, and I couldn't find the time to write, so this chapter was on draft for a lot longer than it should've been. Now to start things off.**_

 _ **Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed, followed, and favorited Pieces. It's been a nice suddenly opening for the first time in almost two months and suddenly finding your story even more readers than I had when I started off, and for that I thank ya'll very much.**_

 _ **Now I'll make no promises, but I'll try to come back to the one to two week update of this fic. I wouldn't want to 'accidentally' leave a cliffhanger and make you guys wait ages for the next chapter.**_

 _ **And yes all the weapons used against Kaneki were made to kill ghouls, even Uta's magical Uzi.**_

 _ **Oh and a warning, this chappie wasn't beta'd so if you see any errors here and there, feel free to point them out. And am kinda sorry this chapter is kinda short for the wait.**_

 _ **Thank you for your polls, most of you want me to stick to what I had in mind so I think I'll follow through with that, but for the others, I'll consider them and see how things roll out.**_

 _ **As always please review/follow/favorite my fic, and you know what, why not do all three. Helps me keep on writing guys.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui**_


	11. Chapter 11: Drowned

Whiteness.

Whiteness was all he saw, blinded by the light as he opened his eyes.

Slowly, his eyes adjusted and the sky formed in front of him. Clouds stretched all across his vision and was illuminated despite the absence of the sun.

He felt light, like he was floating. The sensation was enticing, calling him into closing his eyes once more. He was almost tempted to until he realized what exactly he was floating against.

He turned his head to the side and found him adrift in an endless sea of water. His eyes widening as he momentarily panicked, shifting his position as he aimlessly looked around for an end to the sea surrounding him.

The stillness of the water was disrupted as Kaneki swam across the sea as fast as he can, hoping to find any end to the stretching water.

Countless minutes passed and uneasiness filled his chest as hope slowly faded away as he started to grow tired helplessly swimming for his life in search of anything to hold dear to.

He nearly gave up until something appeared on the horizon.

He couldn't make out what it was, but at the end of his vision, a single structure stood, easily standing out against the mirroring sea and sky.

He didn't give it a second thought as he started to swim towards it.

Despite the growing strain on his arms and legs, Kaneki pressed forward and swam as fast as he could to the only chance of survival he could find in his situation.

Water splashed against his ears, and some even drank as he was starting to grow tired, with only sheer determination fueling him to push on.

He kept going, relentlessly carrying himself across the sea. Until he felt his leg give out and brought himself to a stop.

Quickly, he recovered and allowed himself to stay adrift on the water, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath from the exhaustion.

And when he looked back up, he felt his heart sink.

Across the horizon, the structure stood, unmoving, as if he hasn't moved a single inch.

Kaneki's logic told himself that it must have been the waves pushing him away, since he was swimming on the surface.

Even if, as he stayed on his spot adrift. The water was as still and as silent as if natural laws didn't apply to it.

Convincing himself it was due to the surface. Kaneki dove straight into the water, hoping to have better success swimming beneath the surface.

He nearly lost his breath as soon as he saw what laid beneath.

Before him, thousands of bodies laid adrift below the surface of the water. Their lifeless bodies laid unmoving as they aimlessly floated against the sea.

Panicking, Kaneki immediately swam to the surface, his heart racing rapidly, as dread started to cloud his thoughts at what he just saw. And the sound of thundering noises started to beat with his own heart.

He opened his mouth and breathed in all the air he could, as his eyes were welcomed once more by the sunless sky.

"Murderer."

He turned to the sound of the voice and saw her.

* * *

Kaneki sat up with drops of sweat trailing down his skin. Slowly his senses started to adjust to reality, making up the contents of his room, realizing he had another one of those nightmares.

His dreams, no matter how unreal they were, felt like memories from his future. They felt real, and it feels like he's reliving a moment instead of a dream.

He rubbed his eyelids, fully bringing himself to a wake. And his panting slowly resided, and his breathing was normalized.

And to wake him up even more, a loud banging was repeatedly, violently pounding itself unto his front door.

He gently stood up, realizing he still had his clothes from last night, with the exemption of his shirt. Gently he closed the door to his bedroom on the way out to hide the clutter that was his room.

The banging got louder and louder, as if the person behind it was growing to be impatient. He looked around his apartment and realized everything was still laid out for everyone to see.

He grabbed the cloth that was sprawled out on the floor and picked it up to cover his work. And once he was done, he made his way to the door and took off the lock, opening it, revealing the person.

It was Touka.

She had her usual glare, but it looked even more _glary_ than usual. She looked like she just got back from school, as she still had her school uniform on. Which was odd considering how early in the morning it was.

"Touka-chan, I'm surprised to-" She cut him off.

"Don't you _Touka-chan,_ me Kaneki." She walked passed him, being sure to forcefully bump into his shoulder to make sure her frustrations were delivered and walked into his apartment. "Do you have any idea how worried everyone was?! You haven't been to work in days, and you didn't even bother to tell anyone. And do you even know what time it is?!"

She turned around to face him. He expected her to look at him with a pissed off expression, and he got it. But behind that, he could see her genuine worry for him reflecting in her eyes.

He realized it definitely wasn't the morning anymore.

And immediately, he felt bad. He felt like a criminal, realizing he made everyone in Anteiku worry, by doing the exact same thing that nearly killed him in the first place.

He went off on his own.

He sighed to himself. Quickly resigning the idea, of telling anyone whatever plans he had in mind. Doing so would just hinder his progress.

He needed to do this, to change the outcome of things. To do what he couldn't do when he didn't have the power to do anything.

He still felt bad though.

"I'm sorry Touka-chan." He started to pinch the bridge of his nose. "A lot's been going on, and I admit I'm a hell of a mess right now."

Touka looked at him for a solid ten seconds before sighing to herself and then folded her arms across her chest. "I just came here to check if you were still alive, and to tell you that the manager's been looking for you."

He gave her a smile and gently nodded his head. "I see, thank you Touka-chan." He then began to scratch the back of his head. "Although, if you won't mind. I think I'll have to get ready first. I don't think I've showered since last night."

Touka, upon realization of what Kaneki said. Began to realize the ravenette's lack of clothing and began to redden, and furiously looked to the side. "F-fine. I'll only give you ten minutes though."

"Thank you Touka-chan."

* * *

 _12 hours earlier_

The Helter Skelter illuminated the dark and empty streets of the 14th ward.

It's been nearly three days since the ghoul restaurant burned down. The news told the public that a gas leakage caused the fire, which isn't particularly untrue, but he knew that Itori was curious to find out what really happened.

And he hasn't met with her since.

He was here for business of course, since Itori had yet to hear for him. But more importantly, he was here for some very important information that he wishes he could get from her.

He opened the door and he was greeted by the smell of blood and wine. The place was more populated than the last time he went here. There were a few customers scattered about, and some were even talking to Itori herself.

As the bells rang, signaling his entrance, some ghouls, including Itori herself, looked towards his direction.

"Kaneki-chii!" A slightly flustered Itori greeted Kaneki as she approached him. "I'm surprised to see you here."

He gave the older woman a smile. "It's good to see you too Itori-san." He looked around and gestured to her customers. "Busy night?"

Itori merely gave him a smile. "Not used to it Kaneki-chi? I earn a living too you know."

He raised his hands in defense. "I didn't mean to offend you Itori-san." He politely bowed his head.

She merely giggled at him and took a sip from her blood wine. "I'm just teasing Kaneki-chi, you can make it up to me by dropping the whole Itori-san." She gave him a grin before taking another sip from her drink. "Makes me feel like I'm your age you know?"

Kaneki then began to scratch the back of his neck. "Sorry about that Itori- _chan_."

Itori then proceeded to give him a pat on his back. "That's more like it Kaneki-chi!" She then gestured for him to take a seat. "So what brings you here anyways?"

Kaneki looked to the side to make sure no one was avidly listening to him. "I have the information you need."

Itori then raised an eyebrow and proceeded to bend over the counter, putting them face to face. "Do you mean the location of the ghoul restaurant _you_ burned down Kaneki-chi?"

As she said that, Kaneki's face remained unchanged. "I'm afraid it's not a fair trade Kaneki-chi." She continued. "It's barely been a few months since your little debut, and already the whole of Tokyo is starting to fear crossing you. I might say I'm impressed, but what do I gain from getting useless information?"

Itori's change of demeanor didn't surprise him at the very least. If she was a part of the anarchy loving group clowns then this was probably just the tip of the iceberg.

"Nothing." He then looked up to her and gave her a cold grin. "But despite the restaurant being burnt down, I did manage to make some friends, who were very kind to tell me about some very secret information."

This caused Itori to lean in closer to him in curiosity. "Is that so Kanekichi? Then what that might be if you mind me asking?"

He met her gaze with his own. "Business Itori- _chan_. You give me information, and in exchange, I'll give you some information."

Itori locked her gaze at him for a solid five seconds before leaning back with a grin on her face. "My, my Kanekichi, I must admit I didn't expect this from you. And if you were around my age I'd definitely get turned on by that." She took a sip from her blood wine. "Fine, I'll tell you all I know if you give me some information that I haven't heard of yet."

"It's a deal then Itori-chan." He gestured for her to come close and brought his lips closer to her ear and whispered to her. "The ghoul restaurant was just one of the _forms_ of human trafficking that was established. A certain ghoul I met in the upper class told me that a sort of auction exists, although it's rather small at the moment, as their keeping it low profile."

When he turned to face Itori he looked at her and hoped that she'd buy it.

Being a former or rather soon to be investigator, whichever way your headache wanted it to be, had it perks. And knowing every single major ghoul related crime in the next few years, made him a carrier of valuable information.

After a few moments, Itori placed her glass to the side and smiled at Kaneki. "What would you want to know?"

Kaneki closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them and telling her in a faint whisper.

"Tell me all you know about Kichimura Washuu."

* * *

"Welcome!" Irimi and Koma greeted him on reflex as the bells to Anteiku rang, signaling his entrance.

"Oh, Kaneki-kun, Touka-chan." A surprised Irimi said as she realized who just came in.

"Good afternoon Irimi-san, Koma-kun." Kaneki politely bowed as he greeted his colleagues.

"Yo." Touka followed after him.

Anteiku, at this time of the day, had a few customers around, some human some ghouls. And it was fortunate that he was able to come to a not so loaded time, meaning he'd be able to speak with the manager albeit just for awhile.

He looked around the café and as if reading his mind Irimi cut him off and sighed. "The manager's in the storage room grabbing some filters."

"Thank you Irimi-san, and I uh… Apologize for my absence lately, you probably covered for my shift." Kaneki did a very Haise thing to do, and bowed in front of the older pair causing the both of them to sigh in embarrassment at his antics.

"Just u-uh, promise to tell next time ok?" This time Irimi's face changed into that of a concerned older sister. "We're a family here you hear me?"

Kaneki merely nodded.

Irimi nodded herself in response. "Now go, help out the manager too on your way there." As she said so, Kaneki already proceeded to make his way towards the storage room, and he saw Touka headed upstairs, presumably to change to her waitress outfit.

As Kaneki opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of the manager opening a few boxes of coffee filters, carefully placing them on a dry tray as not to waste them.

"Ah, Kaneki-kun, you finally showed up." The manager said as he seemed to notice his presence. "I'm glad to know you're ok."

The manager then momentarily stopped what he was doing and turned around to face the younger man, with his warm and caring grandfather smile.

Immediately a wave of guilt washed over him. "I'm sorry about that Yoshimura-san. It's just-"

"It's ok Kaneki-kun." The manager cut him off. "Be careful with that 'danger magnet' of yours wouldn't want to you to get yourself hurt or worse killed because of it."

Kaneki flinched at what the manager told him. Not because he was being scolded, not because he was right, but because he could see the genuine concern the manager displayed towards what he told him.

The man after all, died for his colleagues after all.

He gave the old man a sad smile. "Thank you manager… Although, I can't make any promises that this won't happen again."

The manager's smile didn't falter. "As long as your actions don't affect everyone else then I won't stop you." He then picked up the tray of coffee filters and turned around to face Kaneki. "As long as you remember that this place is your home, and you can come back anytime ok?"

He gently took the tray from the manager and nodded his head before turning towards the door. He didn't want anyone to see the sad look of nostalgia in his eyes as he stepped out.

After serving a few customers, a bit of scolding from Irimi and Koma, and the occasional glare from Touka, which was her way of showing he made her worried if he didn't know any better. The day was practically uneventful, which was a change for once.

Then Kimi came by.

It was unexpected to say the least. But then again, he did ask her to come and seek for help here, so it didn't really surprise him much, to say the least.

"Please take a seat and we'll be tending to you right away." Irimi politely told her as she gestured to one of the vacant chairs in the café.

Kimi looked downright nervous. "Uhmm…" She trailed off for a moment before immediately looking straight at Kaneki. "I'm actually here to speak with Kaneki. He told me that if ever I needed help, I could come here to Anteiku."

This caused Irimi to turn her head towards Anteiku's new staff member with a look that screamed ' _you better explain what's happening.'_ before turning to face Kimi again. "Is that so?" She then looked at the manager to which nodded his head.

"If what the girl's saying is true, then Kaneki-kun?" He gestured towards the staircase leading to the meeting room. "Would you kindly speak to her in private?"

Kaneki nodded and gestured for Kimi to follow him upstairs to which she followed. On his way up, he didn't fail to ignore the murderous glare Touka was beaming right at him.

He wondered what he did this time.

As they entered the room, Kaneki gestured for her to take a seat, while he followed soon after, taking a seat at the chair right in front of her.

"It's about Nishio-senpai isn't it?"

Kimi's face immediately fell at the mention of her lover's name. "He's still too weak to even step out of the apartment."

Kaneki sighed, as if expecting it. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. After all, blood isn't a reliable source of RC cells after all."

She then pushed her shirt slightly to the side to reveal her shoulders. Upon doing this, Kaneki's face immediately flustered, but calmed himself realizing what she meant.

"I tried to offer myself for him to eat." This caused Kaneki's eyes to widen in shock. "He downright rejected me, telling me it was even stupid for me to consider that."

Kaneki blinked his eyes for a few moments in surprise.

Well he wasn't expecting that. If he remembered how Nishiki was back then, the man would downright take the offer with no hesitation, but now? Well that was what caught him by surprise.

Kaneki sighed, realizing what he had to do. "I'll drop by after my shift, with a _special_ delivery."

Kimi then looked up at him with a look of relief. "Really?" She then stood up and hugged him. "Thank you so much Kaneki-kun!"

She gave the girl a few pats on the back before she let go. "Kimi-senpai, just take care of yourself ok, this is a dangerous world you're getting yourself into."

Her face slowly softened up. "I know this Kaneki-kun, and my answer remains unchanged." She then placed a hand over her heart. "I love Nishiki, and I'd do anything to stay with him."

As she said that, he wanted to call her stupid, he wanted to tell her how stupid his decision is, but hell, he'd do the same thing for Touka. Love truly is a bitch.

Kimi nodded once more before turning around and exited Anteiku.

"So who was that?" Koma then looked at him with a shit eating grin on his face. "Your girlfriend?"

If looks could kill he'd be a mush of flesh right now, because with the look Touka gave him, he was actually worried for his life at the moment.

Kaneki immediately raised his hands in defense. "No, no!" He then looked around and realized only a few of the customers were present, and only the ghouls remained. "She's taken, she came by to ask for help."

Koma then gave him a slow pat on the back. "Aww, that's too bad Kaneki-kun, she looked like a total babe too, makes you wish you were still human am I right?"

Kaneki merely looked at him. "She's dating a ghoul."

"Oh shit."

"And she knows it."

"Fuck."

He merely gazed at the slowly retreating form of Kimi as she walked towards the end of the street. "And _they_ need my help right now."

* * *

Kaneki knocked on the door leading to Nishiki's apartment.

As soon as he did so, he immediately heard the scurrying of footsteps as the door's lock rattled as it hastily opened.

"Good evening, Kimi-senpai." He greeted the worn out looking girl.

She was still dressed in the same attire that she had when she arrived at Anteiku earlier, and Kaneki briefly wondered if she's even had any form of rest since their encounter.

"Kaneki!" She greeted with mirth in her eyes and opened the door and gestured for him to enter. "I'm so glad you came, please come in."

He nodded his head, and stepped inside Nishiki's apartment. "How is he?"

Kimi then began to sigh as she bit her lip. "He's been the same, his wounds have healed, but he's still been feeling weak." She looked at the scattered medical books across the floor. "I theorized it was due to all his energy being spent on healing his wounds, and without further nutrition, he'd slowly eat himself out just to heal."

Kaneki looked at her in surprise. She wasn't entirely wrong either. Ghouls, unlike humans, solely relied on RC cells to give themselves nutrition.

The Rc cells themselves were all ghouls needed to survive. They were sort of a miracle due to their very nature. Rapid regeneration and superhuman feats were only one of the effects of the RC cells themselves on an individual. With the only downside being that it can only be harvested from others, and that others being humans and ghouls alike.

Well atleast in textbook sense that's what it did.

"You're not entirely wrong there Kimi-senpai." He decided to skip the topic altogether. As much as he wanted to discuss the ghoul anatomy, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Y-you…" He heard Nishiki call him out weakly from the bed. "W-why are you here?"

Kimi immediately brought herself to his side. "Kaneki's here to help, Nishiki-kun."

Before Nishiki could say anything, Kaneki opened the cooler he was carrying and revealed to Nishiki a few days worth of meat for him to have.

He saw Kimi nearly turn to the side and puke at the sight before quickly steadying herself. Needless to say, he was impressed at how she held her stomach just for Nishiki.

He still remembered the first time he saw butchered human meat, and he couldn't say that he reacted the same way.

Nishiki couldn't hold back his jaw as it dropped at the sight. "W-what?" He then looked at his lover. "Why?"

Kimi brought a hand to his cheek. "I told you, he's here to help."

"In exchange, I only wish to speak to you, Nishio-senpai." Kaneki said, causing Kimi and Nishiki to look at him with a dumbfound expression.

He saw Nishiki narrow his eyes at him. "Fine." He then looked at Kimi, causing his expression to soften for a moment. She quickly nodded and left the two alone.

As soon as she left, Kaneki sat down right in front of Nishiki, being sure to leave a comfortable distance between the two of them.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Nishiki asked him with an alarming tone evident in his voice that he couldn't blame him for.

Kaneki maintained a unwavering expression. "I'm sure you have some questions."

Nishiki shrugged. "I guess if you put it that way." He then sighed. "Why the hell are you helping me, Kaneki?"

"I just do."

"What?" This brought a surprised look to Nishiki's face. "Could you please repeat that, because I swear I heard that wrong."

"I told you, Nishio-senpai." He then brought the cooler closer to Nishiki, and the hazelnut haired ghoul quickly grabbed a bite, clearly having not eaten for quite some time. "I'm here to help."

"Yeah, right after you stabbed me in the gut." Nishiki said with malice. "Fortunately for me, I was able to grab some flesh from the corpse, right after you left with that girl. Otherwise, I'd probably be dead by now."

Kaneki simply shrugged his shoulders. "To be fair, I did tell you that I didn't want to fight you. And you were trying to _kill_ me. And I did save you from becoming dinner now didn't I?"

Nishiki gulped down another piece of flesh, and just stared at him for a moment before sighing. "I suppose you do have a point."

A smile then formed on Kaneki's lips and he then extended his hand right in front of a confused Nishiki. He hesitantly reached out of the hand, before grabbing it albeit weakly.

"Then that settles it then." Kaneki spoke out.

"I suppose so." Nishiki faintly smiled and then looked at the cooler full of _rations_. "I don't owe you for this though."

"Consider it a peace offering."

Nishiki went into a full grin, already the color of his face reappearing. "Fine by me." Nishiki then stopped for a moment to think. "I'm surprised though, I didn't know you were a ghoul, I've only ever seen you hang around that kid with blonde hair. You planning on eating him?"

Kaneki's face paled at the thought. "No! That's Hide." He then smiled at the memory. "My best friend. I could say the same about you." He then looked towards the door were Kimi was waiting.

"I love her." Kaneki's head spun to face Nishiki in an instant. A genuine smile formed on his face. "I admit at first I was only planning on using her. But ever since _you_ came along, I slowly learned about my feelings for her, especially when she cared for me when I got weak."

"You're a lucky bastard, you know that?" Kaneki said with a smug look on his face.

"What? Jealous?" Nishiki then gave him a threatening glare. "Sorry buddy, but she's mine."

Kaneki just shook his head. "I already love someone. No need to worry about that."

"Just making sure." Nishiki said as he ate another piece of flesh before setting the cooler aside.

"Actually, you do owe someone for those."

This caused Nishiki to nearly choke on his food. "Really!?"

"The manager at Anteiku told me that you could pay him back with a few shifts at the café." Kaneki said with a smug look on his face. "And I'll need someone to cover my shift for the next few days."

Nishiki merely closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine, I'll think about it."

* * *

The phone rang for a few seconds before Hide picked up.

"Kaneki?!" Hide barked out at him rather furiously. He couldn't really blame him since he practically went AWOL for the past few days. "You didn't show up to campus today and I was starting to get worried."

"Sorry, Hide-kun, I've kinda been feeling sick lately, but I'll be showing up for school in a few days. Wouldn't want to repeat the semester now would I?"

He heard his best friend sigh. He hated lying to the guy, but after everything that's happened before, all he wanted to do was to keep Hide a safe distance away from everything this time.

"Hey just make sure you hit me up once in awhile alright? I'll be sure to take some notes for ya."

"Thanks, Hide."

"Alright, be careful, buddy!" He heard the phone call drop, and he placed his phone to the side and got to work.

He walked towards his only tabletop and took off the cloth that covered his little project and dropped it to the floor revealing what was hidden underneath.

In front of him lay a mapped out blue print of Kanou's mansion, that he pieced together with some information that he's been gathering. He had to admit, it wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing.

Kaneki remembered the last time he raided Kanou's lab. He vividly flinched at the memory, realizing it was one of the worst mistakes he's ever committed, knowing that it was the slippery slope that would lead to everything else.

He had to be careful this time. He couldn't afford to make the same mistake again.

If he pulled this off, then it would mark his first victory in changing the course of history.

And if he failed, the price would probably be just as great.

A knock on the door brought his attention as two figures stood by his door.

Soon, the first major step will be made.

A smile then formed on Kaneki's lips. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

 _Drip, drip._

She didn't know how long she's been here.

 _Drip, drip._

She didn't know how long she can keep her sanity.

The pain, the pain flooded her endlessly, and she knew she was going to break soon.

Thoughts of escape constantly filled her thoughts and dreams, as she desperately clang to whatever hope she could, as it was all she could do to keep her from going insane.

Thoughts of killing that _man_ in horrifying ways, also proved to fuel her sanity.

She was fed constantly, which prevented her from just dying right there. It was times like these when she hated her own bloodline.

Then she began to hear footsteps as brightness filled her vision once more. Stinging her eyes from the rapid change from darkness.

"Good evening, Rize-chan I see you're awake." She heard the voice of the man she loathed more than anyone else in her life, and she said nothing. "Not quite the talker tonight? No matter, I suppose I'll be sure to keep you awake through everything this time, to maybe teach you a lesson."

She then listened to his footsteps come to a stop. "I must say, even after all this time, your vitality is as impressive as it's always been. Already, you've almost completely healed yourself of all your injuries." He then placed a finger to stroke her cheek and it disgusted her, but she did nothing. "I suppose you know what that means."

As the machine flared to life, Rize's screams reverberated across the walls, much to Kanou's satisfaction.

* * *

 _ **Hello everyone! Once again I have failed to update as per usual schedule and I apologize for that. I've been pretty busy the past month and honestly it's been difficult for me to find time to write, let alone be in the proper mood, as I've been constantly stressed.**_

 _ **Excuses aside, I'm happy to tell you that I'll be updating constantly again as I've got a lot of free time now, and with the release of Tokyo ghoul re next week, I am not wasting that opportunity one bit, so expect an early update! (Also expect to be dissapointed just in case)**_

 ** _I'm very thankful to everyone who's been supporting pieces up to now and it brings a smile on my face everytime I see this fic's numbers go up, and I'm happy to know that most of the reviews are positive. It really keeps me going, and it did._**

 ** _Also you guys have really creative ideas that I admit I have not thought about myself, which is great considering I still have no idea how to piece some ideas together, so it helps._**

 _ **Please continue to support this fic!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui**_

 _ **P.S. This chapter was edited, Japan has no banging *god(changed to got). Thanks to Ohnoes for that.**_


	12. Chapter 12: Humanity

If there was one thing Kurona cherished the most, it was her sister, Nashiro.

Her dear sister has been by her side ever since. Nashiro was her light. She was her anchor to the world –she gave her something to live for.

Kurona and her sister have gone through many things in their short life, and if it weren't for her sister, she wouldn't think that she would've gone through it all.

And when their parents died, she didn't know how they'd survive.

It was as if a blank fog had filled her memories, leaving the only remaining memory of her mother and father in that horrific scene that was forever imprinted into her mind.

That was when her own personal vendetta towards the world was born. Since then, all that ever mattered to her was Nashiro.

Her dear sister Nashiro, and _Papa_.

Papa gave her and her sister a reason to live, a reason to fight, a reason to survive. He gave her and Nashiro a new family. Because of him, they felt like they had a place in the world.

Papa brought a light of realization to her. All her misfortunes in life were because she lived as a human in this cold and twisted world. He made her see that the only escape she had towards the cold and hard world was to abandon her humanity.

"Kuro-chan?" A voice broke her from her thoughts.

She found the voice coming from her sister who stood next to her, with concern looming unto her features as she looked at her.

"Are you okay?" She continued.

She merely gave her sister a smile. "I'm okay, just thinking about things."

Her sister replied by giving her a smile of her own and a comforting squeeze to her hand, which she gladly returned.

She then brought her attention towards Papa who was currently occupied with his _experiment_.

His _experiment_ was currently screaming in agony as Papa continued to _fix_ his body. She's seen Papa perform this hundreds of times, and every single one of his subjects reacted the same way and failed.

Everyone except her and her sister, and of course, _onii-chan_.

It didn't take long for the screaming to stop, as Papa slowly walked towards them before turning back to the _man_ laid on the table.

Beside them, Papa waited and counted the time on his clock as he waited for something to happen.

 _Nothing._

She watched as Papa expressed a disappointing look on his face as he was about to walk towards what appeared to be, another failed experiment.

Then it twitched.

The disappointment left Papa's face as they watched his _experiment_ slowly, and painfully rise to his feet. She watched with surprise as the wounds sprawled against his body slowly start to grotesquely stitch itself back together.

She almost thought the experiment was a success.

Then in an instant, the man started to scream in agony as a crimson tendrils erupted from his back, and the man dropped to his knees, vomiting blood.

She stood there with widened eyes as she watched the transplanted kakuhou literally eat the man from the inside.

The man staggered as he stood up, desperately gripping his chest, as he tried to make his way to them with blood red eyes.

"What have you done to m-"

The man's words were cut short as a syringe was buried beneath his neck, courtesy of Papa. Immediately, the man dropped to his knees as his eyes rolled back into his skull as he laid on the ground, unconscious.

"Kuro, Shiro, lock him up." He then grabbed a towel and wiped the blood stains from his hands. "I'd like to see how long he'll live before his own body kills him."

The twins nodded towards their pseudo-father and began to make their way towards the body when the alarms suddenly went off.

In an instant, her eyes brought themselves towards her father who was hastily rummaging through different cameras, as he tried to find whatever triggered the alarm.

He finally stopped when he saw the screen display filled with smoke, nearly concealing from them whatever caused it.

Then suddenly the dust settled, and she couldn't hide the surprised look on her eyes when she saw someone she least expected to be there.

"Onii-chan!?" Kurona said in disbelief, with her sister mirroring her expression.

She swore he looked right into her before the camera turned to static.

She watched as papa stared at the empty screen for a few moments before turning to face her and her sister.

"Kuro, Shiro… We have quite the few unexpected guests. Please welcome them, graciously of course."

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

"This place sure gives you an uncomfortable feeling, doesn't it?" Tsukiyama said from behind him.

Kaneki stopped his sprint as they entered a rather familiar chamber. "Nothing short from a madman like Kanou."

The chamber they were in was completely filled with dark, murky water, with only a railing connecting them to the next section of the lab.

He grabbed Izuki and brought it from its holster and activated it. The quinque burst to life, and the black and crimson blade rose to its full length in his hand.

Carefully, he aimed at the body of water beneath them and extended the quinque to its full length, bringing itself down into the water before retracting back into its original length.

As soon as the blade retracted, the water started to bubble as a corpse rose to the surface of the water, with blood oozing from its head, where Kaneki killed it.

The corpse almost didn't look human, it looked disfigured – _mutilated,_ even – but it's most noticeable trait was the crimson tendrils on its back.

"What is that?" He heard Tsukiyama say, a shocked expression forming on his face as he said so.

Kaneki proceeded to carefully walk across the railing, making sure to ready his guard should more of these emerge from the water. "That is one of Kanou's failed experiments."

They were almost at the end of the railing when he heard Tsukiyama come to a stop. He turned around to face his companion and saw that he had his kagune activated. "What's wrong?"

"I wonder…" Tsukiyama muttered as he reached out to the corpse with his kagune and grabbed a chunk of flesh, which he brought to his free hand.

Without a second thought, Shuu then took a bite from the chunk of flesh.

And as soon as he brought it to his mouth, began to spit it out.

"I expected it to taste differently, but I never expected it to taste this foul." Shuu said, as he tossed the remaining chunk into the water and crinkled his nose in disgust. "I can see why they're considered failed experiments. This one almost tasted just like a raw animal."

Kaneki sighed at Shuu's antics and set it aside. At this point he was already used to his habits, and more importantly his habits at _this_ point in time.

He was just about to turn around when the water beneath them started to bubble. _Violently_.

"Tsukiyama-kun, behind you!" Kaneki screamed as a figure emerged from the water and lunged itself at his friend.

With his kagune still activated, Tsukiyama grit his teeth as he swung at the figure, impaling it to the chest as it sunk back into the water.

Kaneki then felt a hand on his ankle, nearly pulling him into the water, if he didn't slice the hand of him in time.

He then turned to his friend, who was fending off more creatures that tried to lunge at them from the water. "We have to go, now!"

The two broke for it as fast as they could as more and more of _them_ rose from the water. As soon as they reached the end, Kaneki swung Izuki at the end of the of the railing, hoping it would stop their approach, as the sound of metal creaking was heard and the railing sunk into the murky water.

They paused for a moment, thinking that it worked.

Then the water burst as a swarm crawled their way into their current tunnel and Kaneki readied his quinque as the monsters approached them.

"H-help m-e…"

Kaneki nearly dropped his blade when he realized the voice came from one of Kanou's failed experiments.

He watched as dozens of them crawled out of the water, only for some to drop to the ground as their own kagunes literally ate off of themselves. With the others eating after the ones that were on the ground, as their own kagunes tore their insides apart.

It was gruesome. And then he's seen enough of Kanou's creations throughout his lifetime to have enough nightmares for the rest of his life.

But these… These were the betas, the ones that failed to survive the transplant. These were the early stages of Kanou's research.

And the worst of all was…

He could've ended up this way.

"Kaneki…?" Tsukiyama said as he watched Kaneki slowly walk towards the monstrosities…

And began to butcher all of them.

Blood decorated the walls surrounding them, as one by one, Kaneki ended their misery. And not too long after did the cries dissipate, and silence filled the halls once more.

He wiped away the blood from his blade on his sleeve, knelt down right next to one of the dead corpses, and pierced his hand right through its back.

Immediately he pulled it out holding unto the sac like organ that repeatedly beat on his hand.

It was a kakuhou, presumably Rize's. He stared at the heart shaped organ for a few moments before bringing it into his mouth as he began to devour it.

It tasted disgusting, as trying to eat a ghoul always would. He was all too familiar with the flavor as he used to relentlessly cannibalize, himself.

Immediately, his left eye flared to life, feeling the RC cells being absorbed into his own body. And like a burst of energy, his kagune flared to life as it forcefully slammed into the camera observing them.

" _Tolle…_ " Tsukiyama watched as Kaneki's kagune evaporate into a red mist. "Truly amazing… Kaneki-kun!"

" _Master Shuu."_ A voice said, coming from Kaneki's earpiece.

" _I apologize for the intrusion." The voice continued. "But are you harmed in any way?"_

 _"Matsumae."_ Tsukiyama responded to his servant. _"All is good. Any luck with your search?"_

 _"Unfortunately not, Master Shuu. I found the blue prints of the mansion by the library, but it fails to show anything about your current location."_

 _"I see." This time Kaneki spoke up. "Thank you for your help, Matsumae-san."_

 _"Wait." She cut him off. "It does indicate here that there is a cavern beneath the mansion, which might possibly be a connection to the 24th ward."_

This brought him to a pause. Well, that explains a lot. You'd need some serious manpower and time to be able to construct something this vast underground.

It also explains the RC cell walls that made up the entire facility. He didn't know how skilled Kanou was with manipulating ghoul physiology at this time, but he at least knew it was difficult to gather that much RC cells to make everything out of it.

Despite that, the information didn't really help them very much. Even if they managed to find the 24th ward, it would still be near difficult to navigate it.

But it was information nonetheless, and he was only able to vaguely remember how to navigate through the facility, with all the chaos going on when he last remembered being here.

As if reading his thoughts, Matsumae spoke up. " _I'll try to find more useful information if I can."_

 _"Thank you, Matsumae-san."_ Kaneki said as the line went quiet.

"She's very resourceful." Kaneki told his companion as they continued advancing into the facility.

"Matsumae is one of our family's most prodigious and loyal servants." Tsukiyama boasted. "She's the person I mostly go to when I am in distress, and she hasn't failed me in the very least."

Kaneki nodded. "I appreciate your aid, Tsukiyama-kun"

"I did agree to be your sword from now on, yes?" Tsukiyama said with an elegant bow.

The two continued to walk amongst the seemingly endless chambers before they finally stopped in front two doors.

Kaneki looked at his friend with a serious expression, knowing who was waiting for them from behind the doors. "Are you ready?"

" _Stets."_ Tsukiyama said as he readied his kagune.

Kaneki slowly opened the doors revealing a large spacious room behind it. And at the end of the room stood someone he was familiar with, and someone he hasn't seen in a long time.

"Onii-chan."

At the opposite end of the room stood Kurona and Nashiro in their contrasting outfits. He remembered them like he used to before the CCG raided Anteiku, most notably, Kurona.

She looked completely different before if he was to compare how she was in the future and how she looked now. You might say she looked pure compared to how she'd end up being.

How she'd end up being if Nashiro died.

The twins didn't wear a mask to cover their faces. And you could visibly see their single kakugans on each contrasting eye.

"Surprised?" Nashiro spoke up. "You're not the only one that Papa _made_ you know."

"You mean like the _ones_ from back there?" He pointed Izuki behind him. "I'm more surprised you call someone as sick as Kanou your father."

This caused the twins to glare at him. "Don't you dare talk about him like that!" Kurona screamed at him as her kagune flared to life as two tendrils grew from her back as her and her sister charged at them, ready to attack.

"Tsukiyama-kun." Kaneki said as he readied his quinque. "Do your best not to kill them."

Tsukiyama gave him a momentary look of confusion before nodding as the pairs clashed against each other.

The twins lunged back away from them and began to circle the two as they repeatedly assaulted them with their kagunes.

Shuu parried the onslaught and as he did so, swung his kagune right at the twins causing them to leap and break their attack, only for them to slam their kagunes at him as they landed.

"Tsukiyama-kun!" Kaneki screamed as dust formed where Tsukiyama stood, hiding his condition.

He sighed in relief as it dissipated to revealing Shuu to be alive and well. He was on his knees and his Kagune had several cracks on it, and he had a couple scratches, but he was unharmed.

Kaneki brought Izuki to a reverse grip as he centered his eyes on his two opponents. It was proving to be difficult to fight against someone who wanted to kill you, without trying to kill them yourself.

And despite that, these twins worked well together, backing the other up when pushed into a corner.

If you gave these two a few more years, they'd be a force to be reckoned with.

And to make matters worse, Kanou could very well be escaping with Rize right about now. And he knew very well that the man cared very little for what happens to these two.

So he had to try something else.

"Not going to use your kagune, Onii-chan?" Nashiro said as the twins lunged right at him with their kagunes raised. "Don't you dare think badly of us!"

Nashiro swung her kagune at Kaneki in a fury. Sparks danced rapidly as the twins began their relentless attack on Kaneki, not giving him a chance to retaliate.

He saw black launch to the air, a crimson appendage ready to strike and end him right there. He fell for it as he brought Izuki above him to guard her attack. And then white came from in front of him with her kagune ready to end him.

The kagune was inches away when Kaneki twisted his body just as he parried Kurona's attack and swung his leg right into Nashiro's face, launching her away.

Right into Tsukiyama.

Nashiro tried to get up from the ground when a boot kept her firm on place. "Uh uh, das madel. You be good now." Tsukiyama gave her a feral grin as his kagune was merely an inch away from her throat.

"Nashiro!" Kurona screamed, momentarily taking her eyes of Kaneki to check on her sister.

Kaneki didn't waste his chance as his kagune flared to life and began to wrap itself around Kurona's neck, lifting her of the ground.

"Now if you were so kind to tell us where Kanou is, we'd be glad to be on our way. Or would you rather…"

On queue Nashiro began to scream in pain as Tsukiyama slowly and painfully pierced his kagune right into her shoulder.

Kurona looked distressed, obviously not knowing what to do. She seemed to stand there looking back and forth between her sister and Kaneki.

"Tsukiyama-kun." Kaneki said coldly as Tsukiyama dug his kagune even deeper into Nashiro's shoulder bringing about another scream.

"S-top!" Kurona pleaded with her kagune dissipating. "He's in the core of the lab, directly from here."

"K-Kuro!" Nashiro cried out in pain.

"Just please!" Kurona looked down in shame. "Please don't hurt her anymore."

Tsukiyama pulled his kagune from Nashiro's shoulder, and Kurona sighed in relief as Kaneki kept his word.

"I'm sorry for this but I can't let you follow us." Kaneki apologized as he brought his kagune into the ground, still wrapped around Kurona's neck, forming a small crater where she landed.

"Kuro-chan!"

"Tsukiyama-kun, let her go." As he did so, Nashiro then began to limp towards her sister who was laid unconscious on the ground.

Kaneki watched Nashiro gently place her sister's head on her lap as she gently caressed her head, as if trying to soothe away the pain.

"Kaneki." Tsukiyama called him out, breaking him from his trance.

"Sorry." Kaneki replied as they exited the large room.

"Why didn't we just kill them?" Tsukiyama asked him, obviously still confused with his order earlier.

"They're just like me." He said as he remembered Kurona state in the possible future. "They're just one of the many victims of tragic circumstance."

"But wouldn't it be merciful for us to end their misery right then and there?"

An image of Nashiro's barely distinguishable face, as she seemed to be inside Kurona flashed through his mind. Even in that state, Kurona was able to have the will to live, maybe for her personal vendetta against Kanou, but her sister, despite being in that state, still seemed to help her go on.

"They'll be fine as long as they have each other." Kaneki said as they reached a long and dimly lit tunnel, which seemed to lead to somewhere.

"I think this is it." Kaneki said as the two carefully made their way through the tunnel. "Keep your guard up. Remember, he knows we're here."

Their footsteps echoed against the walls as they reached the end of the tunnel, glass doors were opened and Kaneki's eyes narrowed at the familiar scene in front of him.

Dozens of _containers_ surrounded the core of the lab. He knew each and every one of those contained one of Kanou's specimens, and at the heart of it all was Rize.

She was inside a tank, her hair was let down as her weight was only supported by the tubes that were connected to her body.

The scene was horrific and nostalgic. It was sickening how little the difference was between what he _remembered_ and what he was seeing now.

"Kaneki-kun." A voice echoed from the above him. "I was just about to ask you if you've taken your medication."

It was Kanou. He stood high above, where he was unreachable, as the core of the lab was lowered, with the walls in a narrow slope, elevating until they reached almost the ceiling.

"Kanou…" He glared at the doctor and his gaze then shifted to Rize. "Rize…" As if hearing him, Rize raised her head just barely enough to look at him.

"The fact that you made it all the way here, means there's no need to hide anything from you anymore." Kanou spoke up, his voice reverberating across the walls. "You started out with a human body, but now you can stand up to the likes of the CCG and even made a name for yourself."

"I'm proud you've reached such heights on your own." Almost theatrically, the doctor spread his arms as if to welcome him. "Perhaps my attempts to control ghouls by suppressing their emotions like I tried with Kuro and Shiro… Was a failure, in a sense. You are my masterpiece, Kaneki. "

Kaneki clenched his fists until blood started to leak out from his hands. This man…this man created the madness that would soon destroy the whole of Tokyo.

He didn't know what game he was trying to play. He didn't know what motivated him. He didn't live long enough to find out, apparently.

"Cut the crap, Kanou!" Kaneki screamed in outburst. "Whatever you're trying to do, we both know it will only end in death and destruction."

Memories of Tokyo burning, memories of all the corpses, memories of his friends dying… it filled his mind and pained his chest. The amount of damage this man would cause and have caused to his life haunted him and filled him with fury.

"Why do you think a caged bird can't fly freely?" Kanou continued, completely ignoring his statement. "I realized, a warp cage entangles our world and I want to destroy that."

His hand shifted and pointed at the countless test subjects surrounding them. "To do so, I need the most powerful means. In other words, ghou-"

"So you tried to create artificial one eyed ghouls to send a message." Kaneki cut him off. "You wanted me to break the cage, didn't you?"

Kanou's eyes widened in surprise at Kaneki's statement, before breaking into a fit of laughter at his words. "It appears I have greatly underestimated you, Kaneki. You truly are my greatest creation!"

The mad doctor offered his hand to Kaneki. "Come and join Aogiri with me, Kaneki. If you are to live in the world of ghouls, you should join hands with fellow ghouls. They're a rather interesting organization. Outside the fences they may be your enemies, but once inside they are dependable allies." He paused for a moment. "Come with me, and I will show you what this world really is!"

Kaneki's left eye flared to life. "An interesting offer, but…" Glass shattered as Kaneki breached Rize's tank with his kagune. "I didn't come here for you!"

"What?!" The doctor looked shaken and surprised at Kaneki's actions. He stared at him for a few moments before narrowing his eyes at him. "It appears negotiations have failed and my time seems to be over."

The sound of gas being released was heard and Kaneki watched as the Kanou turned and proceeded to walk away. "Until we meet again, Kaneki-kun."

One by one, each and every single one of the test subjects were released. Wild and deranged creatures started to swarm them, with their kagunes wildly flailing around as they began their assault.

"These aren't like the ones earlier. Tsukiyama-kun!" He told him as they stood back to back against each other. "Take Rize and get out of here! I'll follow soon ahead."

"Tres bien." Tsukiyama extended his kagune, clearing him a path as the failed test subjects tried to approach Rize. "I'll see you on the way out, Kaneki-kun."

Left and right, he brought down several of Kanou's nightmares at once. He danced around the feral creatures as they tried to devour him, bringing their attention towards him and away from Tsukiyama and Rize.

He flicked a switch and Izuki tripled in its length, and with one swing he was able to take out a large portion of them.

One after another, more and more of them fell, and no sooner did Kaneki stand there all alone, with his clothes decorated in blood and gore as all the remaining subjects were dead and in pieces below his feet.

Izuki faded back into its holster, and Kaneki made his way back towards the tunnel, leaving a bloody footprint with every step he took.

* * *

The dark night sky was illuminated by the color of ember as the mansion was ablaze in fire.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to burn it down?" Matsumae asked Kaneki.

The three of them stood at the clearing, far from the currently burning estate. As soon as the three of them got out, Kaneki asked Matsumae to aid him in taking down the mansion.

"Leaving that man's work out there for anyone to take is dangerous." Kaneki stated. "Trust me, this won't stop him, but it might slow him down."

And the lab itself would remain underground where the fire won't be able to reach it. But he figured it wasn't a good idea to just leave it alone like he did back then.

Quitely, he apologized to Kurona and Nashiro for burning down their old home. It was the only thing they had left to remind them of their real family. But then again, the place was littered with horrible memories as well.

"Matsumae-san." Kaneki asked the older woman causing her to look at him. "Did you pick up what I asked for?"

The woman in question raised her brow at him as she pulled out a book from the bag she was carrying.

It was a photo album.

"I find it odd that you'd ask for such a thing, but here you go." She handed him the album and no sooner did he take it from her and flipped it open to check.

At the very first page was a picture of Kurona and Nashiro as children, behind them stood what seemed to be their parents. Each of them radiated a warm smile, indicating what used to be such a happy family.

He closed the album and placed it on the large pocket in his vest. Hoping to hold on to it till he could return it to its rightful owners. "Thank you for your aid, Matsumae-san." Kaneki then gave her a polite bow in courtesy for her help.

She brushed it off. "You should be thanking Master Shuu for that, I only provided my assistance per his request after all."

"Hey…?" All three looked towards the woman, who was currently being carried by Tsukiyama. "I-I'm…I'm hungry."

"What should we do with her now?" Tsukiyama asked. "I do admit, she does look quite harmless in her current state, as of the moment." He continued with a mocking tone.

"I have some questions to ask her. And I can't let her loose or she'll be hunted again." He paused for a moment in thought. "I'll keep her with me for awhile until I find her a safer place to stay."

Kaneki then placed a hand on Shuu's shoulder. "Thank you for your help, Tsukiyama kun, I really appreciate it."

Shuu pointed towards his heart, and gracefully nodded his head. "I hope this proves my allegiance to you, Kaneki-kun."

Kaneki nodded at his friend. "I suppose, for now, we go home."

He looked at the mansion once more, taking in the image as the fire slowly tore it down before turning around and walking away.

* * *

 ** _For the first time in a few months I've actually managed to write the next chapter within the 2 week duration. Ha! That's improvement for you. So here we are at the point of the story were everything just about going to get fucked up, so I hope you guys are in tune for the next chapter in a week or 2 or so..._**

 ** _By now I'm sure most of you have seen Tokyo Ghoul re: (The anime) and to be honest I find it to be a nice adaptation so far of the series. The op's been on my playlist since it came out, and I know that it isn't on par with unravel, but it definately sets a nice pacing. And holy shit that bass in the asphyxia's just golden. I really liked how they executed Haise's first encounter with Touka and it almost brought me to tears with how spot on the background music is._**

 ** _Guys I can't deny that I'm really happy to see that the fics reception is as positive as ever and I know I always say this every chapter but thank you so much to all of you, for your continuous support, I really appreciate it, and It's nice to know that people look forward to reading this everyday, it makes writing all the more special._**

 ** _Disclaimer:Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui_**

 ** _P.S. There was a guest review from Ohnoes that gave me a lot of info on stuff I missed out on, so thanks a lot to that guy, and holy shit dude make an account._**


	13. Chapter 13: Linger

Hide was currently reviewing Kaneki for the lessons he missed.

Kaneki sat by one of the vacant tables in Anteiku, listening to his best friend give him a review of each and every lecture he missed during his absence.

Hide has been at it ever since they got to the café. He even made sure to take as much notes as he can just so Kaneki could catch up, especially since they had a test coming up. And Kaneki, being the responsible and all, barely had anything to work with because of his rather _busy_ schedule lately.

He mentally noted to treat his best friend for the amount of extra stress he's been giving him, and for caring for his welfare so much.

"Ahgh!" Hide screamed in frustration as he pulled on his hair. "What the hell have you been doing for you to go off the grid for nearly a week?!"

Kaneki felt bad. Hide did his best not to show it with his usual happy go lucky attitude, but he could tell his friend's been worrying a lot. It also pained him to keep Hide away from all of _this,_ as much as he wanted him to know, he firmly believed that it would best to keep Hide out of his mess.

He brought a finger towards his chin and gently massaged it. "I never really got some rest ever since the whole accident. I just felt like resting for awhile you know? I even saw Dr. Kanou for awhile."

It didn't seem to reassure him as Hide glared at him for a second before sighing and collapsed himself on the table. "We've been at this for hours! I need a break."

Kaneki looked at the time and realized that his shift was about to start soon. "Well it looks like my shifts about to start soon, so I guess you're getting one."

Hide then slammed his hands on the table as he looked at Kaneki in surprise. "What, already?" He then looked at the clock. "I didn't realize it. I guess we've been in here longer than I thought."

Kaneki stood up from his seat and placed a hand on Hide's shoulder. "Thanks a lot Hide. I'll treat you today as I sign of thanks."

Hide smiled and waved it off with his hand. "Nah man, you did the same for me on several occasions. It's no big deal."

Kaneki shook his head. "I insist." His eyes shifted once more to the clock. "I really should get ready soon."

"Fine." Hide sighed before his face shifted into a playful grin as his eyes wandered to a certain lavender-haired girl by the counter. "You probably just don't want Touka-chan to be even more upset with you."

Kaneki's face quickly reddened at Hide's words. "N-no!" He said as he tried to compose himself. "I just don't want to lose my job that's all."

His eyes then shifted towards said person who was currently brewing up a hot cup of coffee. As he did so, he noted to himself to check up on her right after he changed. Touka looked oddly red and he worried that she might have a fever.

"Well, anyways Hide I have to get to work." Kaneki said as he picked up his stuff as he stood up.

Hide merely waved his hand. "Alright, I'll just be here then."

As Kaneki began to walk towards the stairs, he heard a bell chime and immediately turned towards the door. "Welcome to Anteik-"

Kaneki stopped mid way a step when he noticed it was Nishiki who entered the shop, wearing one of Anteiku's uniforms that suited him rather nicely, if he had to say so for himself.

"Nishio-senpai!" Hide spoke up before him. "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh!" Nishiki then turned towards Hide and stared at him for a couple moments. "What's your name again?"

Hide looked crestfallen. People rarely forgot about Hide because he usually gave a strong impression of himself. To hear someone say that probably ruined his pride a bit.

"H-Hide Nagachika!" He said as he recomposed himself. "How could you forget me after catching you having sexy time with that hot biology major?!"

"Ahgh!" Nishiki's face turned pale white. "I told you to never mention that again!"

"But how could I forget such a sight?" Hide said with a dramatic pause. "The sound of moaning, the smell of sex? I'll never see that hot senpai the same way ever again!"

Kaneki could practically see the veins on Nishiki's forehead throb frustration. "That's my girlfriend you're talking about you bastard!"

"Careful Nishio-senpai~" Hide said as he playfully made circles with his finger. "That's not how a proper Anteiku employee should behave."

This caused Nishiki to make a fist. "Shut the hell up Nagachika!"

"See!" Hide's face immediately lit up. "You do remember me." He then crossed his arms and puffed his chest in victory.

"You little…" Nishiki said as he grit his teeth in annoyance before sighing. "Fine."

"I've been working here for awhile to pay off a debt that I owe the manager." Nishiki continued as he placed his hands in his pockets. "To be honest though it's not a bad job, and well… I'm still getting paid and it has a lot of perks."

"I bet Kaneki dragged you into this huh?" Hide asked.

"Yep." Nishiki said as he sighed to himself.

"I knew it!" Hide slammed his fist unto the table.

"HEY!" Hide immediately paled as he turned to face a pissed off Touka glaring at him. "Don't damage Anteiku property!"

"Sorry!" Hide bowed his head in apology before pouting. "I'm jealous… now I want to work for Anteiku."

"But your family's pretty well off." Kaneki butted in.

"I know." Hide crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks. "But you can't just leave me out of the fun you know."

Kaneki scratched the back of his head at his best friend's antics. As much as he wanted to, it was too dangerous for Hide to be even more involved with the ghoul world than he already has.

Sure, Anteiku may be a friendly place to call home and all. But as far as he was aware, 100% of their employees were ghouls. Well if you count him being a half-ghoul, it would be far less than that.

He looked towards Touka only to be glared at as she looked towards a different direction. _'definitely still upset at me'_ he thought to himself as he realized his shift already started.

"I've gotta get dressed Hide." Hide looked at him, face still pouting. "Cmon, I'll treat you a frappucino."

He noticed Hide pout again. He sighed to himself as he scratched the back of his head. "And I'll cook you up a steak for lunch."

This seemed to lighten up his best friend again as a small smile crept to his face. "Deal."

* * *

"Yoshimura probably knows everything about Kimi." Nishiki said as he sat at one of the chairs in Anteiku's conference room. "And is trying to put a grip on me."

Nishiki sighed to himself as he continued. "I wonder if that's the case?" He then looked at Kaneki, who was currently busy feeding Hetare. "In the worst case scenario I could just move away. Jeez… that old man is a control freak isn't he?"

"Anteiku's lasted this long hasn't it?" Kaneki said as Nishiki looked at him with a curious expression. "He's probably doing what he can in order to preserve whatever peace is left on the 20th ward."

Nishiki leaned back deep in thought at what Kaneki said. "If you think about it…" Nishiki raised his brow to Kaneki. "Shouldn't he be keeping an eye out for you more?"

This caused Kaneki to momentarily freeze as he gave Nishiki a questioning look. "What do you mean by that…?"

"You're the Eyepatch ghoul right?"

Kaneki's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't recall ever telling Nishiki about that. Could he possibly have been too reckless with his movements that he was giving away his identity that easily?

As if noticing him tensing up Nishiki spoke up. "Relax." Nishiki said breaking him from his thoughts. "The manager told me."

"What…"

Nishiki shrugged. "Well it was more along the lines of 'The 20th ward's been more dangerous ever since Kaneki and Touka's incident'." He smirked at Kaneki. "And you could say that I just pieced everything together and it makes so much sense now."

Kaneki sighed to himself. "I forgot how smart you were Nishio-senpai."

A vein popped on Nishiki's forehead. "Oi! Are you insulting me?"

"No." Kaneki began scratching the back of his head. "But you're right."

This time it was Nishiki's turn to sigh. "I never really asked you." He said as he stood up. "Why did you help me?"

Kaneki was taken aback by what he said. Not that he thought about it, he never really thought why he decided to help him. Even back then when they barely knew each other.

Perhaps he felt bad and he still had a spark of humanity in him but…

"You needed help." Kaneki said, crossing his arms. "It was the right thing to do."

Nishiki burst out laughing.

"I'm so-orry it's just…" Nishiki trailed off "I guess you Anteiku ghouls really are insane."

Kaneki narrowed his eyes at him. "You're part of Anteiku now too, you know."

"Does he know?" Nishiki said, leaning on the wall as he recollected himself.

"Who?"

"You know who I'm talking about." Nishiki gestured his thumb to the door. "Nagachika."

Kaneki's eyes shifted towards the floor before shaking his head. "No." He tilted his head up and met Nishiki's eyes with his own. "And I don't plan on letting him know."

Nishiki stared at him for a few moments before slowly walking towards him and placed his hand on Kaneki's shoulder.

"I understand." He paused as he let go. "Now that I think about it, I'm sure as hell lucky that I found someone like Kimi. I can't imagine a lot of humans who'd accept us ghouls, even the ones from Anteiku."

"Well not everyone's as lucky as you Nishio-senpai." Kaneki said.

This brought a smirk on Anteiku's new member. "Well, can't deny that."

The two continued to talk throughout their break time. Laughs and insults were exchanged between them, as they enjoyed each other's company.

Despite the lighthearted mood between the two, Nishiki's words never left Kaneki's mind.

It wasn't like Kaneki was afraid that Hide would leave him once he found out the truth… It was that he knew he would.

But he'd die knowing.

* * *

"Well that's the last one." Kaneki said as the familiar ringing of bells signaled as the last customer left.

He made his way towards the only entrance to the store, flipping the sign to 'closed'.

Looking back he saw Touka starting to stack the chairs atop the tables. With no indication whatsoever that she heard what he said.

Sighing to himself, Kaneki pinched the bridge of his nose as he approached his co-worker. "Let me help you out." He then reached out to pick up the chair that Touka was about to pick up, only to be rather forcefully shoved away from the piece of furniture.

"I can help myself." Touka said, rather harshly as she placed it atop the table.

Kaneki grit his teeth. He was growing rather frustrated with how Touka was treating him throughout the day. He didn't understand why she was being so passively aggressive with him. He knew she was upset, but he never recalled doing anything to her to deserve her treatment.

"Touka." Kaneki said sharply. "What's bothering you so much? You've been so cold to me all day!"

As soon as the words left his mouth he immediately regretted it as Touka dropped the chair she picked up a little too forcefully.

"What's bothering me?" Touka screamed at him. "There's nothing bothering me dipshit! I've always been like this!"

She then jammed a finger to his chest. "Don't go asking me shit like that just because I'm not checking up on your stupid ass!"

This time Kaneki's face flushed in anger. "Stop treating it like a chore if I never asked you to!"

It all happened in a second.

First Touka looked taken aback by his words. Before she clenched her teeth and a fist landed square on his jaw.

"I was worried about you because you're my friend you asshole!"

He heard footsteps hurry towards the stairs. Slowly, his hand rose to the sharp pain on his jaw were Touka hit him, gently caressing the pain.

Kaneki collapsed at one of the chairs left around the store. He sighed to himself as he stared at the dimly lit ceiling above him. The anger quickly residing away as guilt washed over it.

Was he always like this? He never remembered his temper cut so low for him to lash out at Touka like this. He blamed it at one of the traits left over to him by his days as Haise.

Then he shook his head and knew it was something else.

He took a deep breath as he tried to relieve the tension in his chest. He started feeling it more and more ever since the incident with Hinami. He didn't really understand what was going on with him, but he supposed it was causing him to act rather more rash than the usual.

After taking a few breaths he slowly sat up the chair and gently picked it up, placing it atop the table.

He looked around and realized he was alone to clean up after the shop.

* * *

"Say that again and I'll cook you, you stupid bird!"

Kaneki heard as he slowly opened the door to the lounge. As soon as he entered, he found a slightly flustered Touka standing next to Hetare looking at him in surprise.

He watched as she puffed her chest out, her face immediately forming into a scowl as she stomped her way to the door.

"Touka wait!" Kaneki screamed putting the girl to a stop. "I came here to apologize."

She looked at him for a few moments before her eyes narrowed at him. "Leave me alone Kaneki."

"Please." He presented her the cup of coffee, which caused her eyes to widen slightly. "Atleast hear me out."

Despite being rather average at latte art, he tried his very best with the cup he made for Touka. He only had one chance at making this, as he didn't want to waste their stock on coffee for practice.

He held a simple latte with a bunny sketched with the cream. The bunny was rather rusty, and it was barely recognizable without its two long ears. Needless to say, he wasn't as good as Touka but he tried his best.

"I'm sorry for screaming at you." Kaneki said with his head bowed slightly.

He suffered in silence for a few moments before Touka spoke up. "Your latte art looks like shit." He looked up to find her lips turned up slightly.

They both took a seat right next to each other as Touka took a few gentle sips at her drink. "It's a little too creamy but it's not bad." She then crossed her arms. "Fine, I'll hear you out."

Kaneki bowed his head. "I'm also sorry for worrying you like that." He then leaned back and let his head hang slightly. "And for worrying everyone in Anteiku again."

"It's just…" He paused. "I didn't expect any of this to happen… And I guess I'm just so scared that things could go wrong at any moment."

He felt something touch his cheek as he turned to find Touka's hand in front of his face.

And flicked her finger straight at his nose.

"Ouch." Kaneki said in reflex as he rubbed his nose. "What was that for!"

"That." Touka said with an annoyed expression on her face. "Was for being stupid."

"What-"

"You can't stress yourself out over stupid things like that." She cut him off. "I get that it must suck hard for you not being a human and all that shit."

A finger poked his chest once again. "But you can't keep dwelling on that." She let go as she sighed. "This is your life now… You know, we're not as lucky as you."

A sad look washed over her face. "I've always been jealous of humans… They never had to worry about anything you know? They'll never spend the rest of their lives being hunted down like pests." She began to clench her fists. "So you better be damn grateful you were born one, even if you're a ghoul now or whatever!"

She turned to him with a scowl on her face. It made him feel bad for some reason. He knew how she felt about humans… So even back then, it was one of the things that drove him to do his best when he was king.

But seeing her now, telling him her vulnerabilities once more. It made him kind of happy, and that's probably what made him feel bad.

It was nice knowing that Touka was starting to trust him again.

Carefully he brought his hand atop hers, causing her to look at him with a confused and flustered expression on her face.

"I'm sorry…" He gave her a gentle smile. "If anything, I was happy I met the people of Anteiku, I was happy I met you."

He saw Touka's face start to heat up at his words. "Meeting you guys made me feel like it wasn't so bad you know?"

"Kaneki…" Touka told him as she slowly leaned closer to him. "Why did you save me back then?"

He felt himself drawing closer to her as she did. "That's crazy…"

He felt her breath touch his face. The scent of coffee filled his nostrils.

"…I would have been sad if you died."

He closed his eyes, taking in Touka's scent as he let his feelings take over.

"Am I interrupting something?"

He quickly leaned back and opened his eyes as he and Touka looked towards the door wearing a flustered expression on their faces as the manager stood rather awkwardly at the door.

" _Baka baka baka!"_ Kaneki looked behind him to find the insult come from Hetare.

Maybe they really should cook the bird.

* * *

(Kurona POV)

The stares they gave them were rather unsettling as they made their way through the stares the Aogiri ghouls gave them.

She looked towards her sister and found that she was in a similar state. They were both tense, their kagune ready to strike should anyone make a move.

Perhaps to tense as she didn't notice that they already stopped moving.

"Well this is unexpected."

She heard the voice come from a rather petite girl fully wrapped around in bandages. She wore a purple cloak around her, and she seemed to be barefooted.

"I've decided that it would be more beneficial for us if we worked together, don't you say?" Kanou spoke up, trying to lighten up the tension in the air.

A small chuckle was heard around the room. "I'm glad you came to your senses and decided to stop running from us, _doctor._ "

"Well, I was given no other choice by Kaneki-kun after he infiltrated my lab and all." Kanou said with surprisingly no hint of malice in his voice.

"Kaneki?" The woman in bandages said as she twiddled her finger at her covered lip. "Now where have I heard that name before."

"I'm surprised you haven't had your eye on him." Kanou said. "He's been causing quite the stir on the 20th ward after all."

She then playfully smacked her fist against her palm. "I remember now." She said with a hint of mirth on her tone. "Well that explains why he smelled a little funny."

"Good." Nashiro watched as her pseudo-father brought out a picture from his coat. "Because he has something that I need if you want me to help you."

"Have you heard of anyone named Rize?"

* * *

 _She ran._

 _She didn't know how long she kept her feet running, she didn't know how far she went. All she knew now was that her legs finally gave out on her, the soaring numbness paralyzed her, keeping her to the ground._

 _She panted deeply, desperately trying to breathe in as much oxygen as she can, trying her best to recover._

 _The fatigue enveloped her, with her feeling her consciousness slowly dwindling away. She wanted to rest right then and there, but she didn't know if someone was still looking for her._

 _She didn't want to risk it._

 _Her quivering arms slowly raised themselves to the ground as she tried her best to pick herself up, only to fall as they lay limp onto the cold pavement._

 _She was hungry, her stomach ached in pain as it craved for food. And right then and there, she wondered if she was going to die here on the cold hard floor._

 _"Young girl, what are you doing?" She heard a voice call out to her._

 _Her tired eye looked towards the source of the voice and found a stranger standing before her._

 _"One must not sleep in the middle of the path."_

 _She turned her eye to meet the face of the stranger. It was a man with long raven hair that reached passed his shoulders._

 _"To run…" She weakly told him as her stomach grumbled. "I hungry…"_

 _"Hmm?" She heard the man grumble as he reached out to his robe and took a small parcel and held it out in front of her._

 _Sweet aroma filled her nostrils and she felt her eyes flare as she quickly sat up and practically snatched the parcel from the stranger._

 _She violently unwrapped it revealing the meat hidden inside. Without hesitation, she brought the flesh to her mouth and started devouring it._

 _"You." She looked to her side and noticed the stranger sit right next to her. "Your name?"_

 _She paused blankly, staring at the stranger who offered her food._

 _"Rize… My name is Rize."_

Rize jerked up from her bed, to find beads of sweat dripping from her forehead.

Immediately she felt a wave of dizziness cloud her vision as blood rushed its way to her head. ' _Why do I feel so weak?'_ she thought to herself as the familiar pang of hunger etched its way to her gut.

She tried to move from her bed but found that her arms and legs were restrained. She felt alarmed at her situation as her eye flared to life, willing her kagune to release.

Only to find nothing.

"I see you're awake." She turned towards the voice as her eyes widened in surprise. "Remember me Rize-chan?"

* * *

 _ **Kinda short and lighter than usual, I know. Sorry for the long wait everyone, been quite busy over the past month.**_

 _ **Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and continued to support this fic so far. Without you guys I don't think I'd really keep up the story, so your kind words and continous support kept me writing.**_

 _ **Now I'm most of you know what story arc's going to happen next, and a lot of you have been wondering how I'm going to roll with things. You'll see soon, hopefully real soon if I find the time and the inspiration.**_

 _ **After this arc, theres this gap between the major events in the original manga since I basically eliminated any reason for the story to progress down the original plot, besides the major arcs. So feel free to drop an idea or so, that might get my gears working. Oh and don't worry, I've got this whole fic figured out, but it's mostly centered around the ending(If we even get there), so I don't want to accidentally make the whole midpoint of the story a bit too boring for ya'll, especially with my usual late updates and all. So just hit me up!**_

 _ **Thank you once again and please do continue with your support everyone!**_

 _ **And thanks once again to those of you who point out my errors in the fic, I always make sure to leave a thank you note to those of you who do when I edit the chapter. And thanks to those of you who give me some helpful insight, I'm talking about you Ohnoes, seriously man make an account already.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui**_


	14. Chapter 14: Entropy

The cool sea breeze rushed along the waters of Tokyo bay.

"There's another corpse." Yoshimura said next to him, a worried expression etched itself on his wrinkled face. "It doesn't seem like we're in Japan at all… This reminds me more of the Middle East."

Yomo, despite his stone gaze, had a similar feeling crawl up his chest. Ever since Aogiri came about, every dark alley along the street turned into a warzone between ghouls and doves.

And with Aogiri trying to take hold of all the wards in Tokyo, it usually resulted into fights between ghouls as Aogiri took over territory from opposing ghouls. Forcing them under their will.

"Yomo-kun." The manager asked. "Did you collect any information on them?"

"Yes." He replied. "I captured one of them and made him talk."

Yomo continued. "They are a gang of ghouls who call themselves 'Aogiri Tree'. He didn't know who exactly the members were, but he said there were a fair amount of them." He then paused as a cold expression covered his face. "He also said… The one leading them is…"

"… The One-eyed king."

The manager tensed for a moment at his last words. Perhaps his speculations were correct and the manager really knew who this One-eyed king was.

He took a breath as he readied himself, contemplating how he was going to fully explain what happened.

"And one more thing…" The manager turned to face him. "It's about Kaneki."

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

"Kaneki…"

It was just pure irony.

It was almost a tragic comedy even. It was funny how his words came to be played out by whatever deity resided above the clouds.

He could feel it. The avid tension in the air as recognition filled the eyes of the woman who laid merely an arms reach away from him.

He could remember now why he found the confidence to ask her out on a date in the first place. Even amongst the torture she's been through, her violet locks streamed down her porcelain skin; like no harm even came to her.

There was without a doubt that Rize Kamishiro was a beautiful and dangerous woman.

"Kaneki..." The girl before him spoke up dryly, eyes wide with recognition as she stared at him.

She almost looked harmless, wearing the clothes provided to her by Matsumae; she looked like an innocent normal girl who's barely started out her life.

"There's a glass of water next to you." He pointed his head towards the glass laid on top of his desk. "You should drink it before you ask any questions."

Rize blinked before turning her head as she grabbed the glass of water and nearly gulped down its contents in an instant.

He watched as she placed the glass back onto the desk rather forcefully. Her head tilted down, bringing her locks to cover most of her face. "More." She said, as she started to breathe deeply.

Kaneki sighed as he handed her another glass of water, which she chugged down just as fast. He watched as she directed her eyes towards his, with a look of animosity evident on her face.

"I can see why they call you the Binge Eater now." Kaneki spoke up, as he sat down on the chair placed in front of his bed.

The moment he sat down, he suddenly felt Rize's body tense up; the glare on her face increasing in intensity, and he knew she was planning something.

Kaneki then leaned a little closer to her, and much to his expectations, the girl before him sprang into action.

He merely sat still as Rize flared her kakugan to life, a hungry smirk appeared on her lips as she tried to take him out then and there –

– only for nothing to happen.

He watched with satisfaction as a look of panic and surprise etched itself onto Rize's face. She continued to struggle, trying to force her kagune to release itself, much to her disappointment.

"What did you do to me!?" Rize said as her expression turned feral. She struggled against her restraints, as her eyes immediately turned back to their original color, unable to be maintained due to her current lack of RC cells.

He expected this reaction from her. "You really don't remember anything, Rize?"

Her gaze didn't change and Kaneki gave out a long sigh. "Let me jog your memory then." He closed his eyes as he felt the familiar rush as his lone kakugan flared to life.

In an instant, Rize froze. The tension in her body relaxed as her eyes froze, the previous look of animosity melting away into a look of horror.

A lone tear streamed down her face as her mouth began to quiver. Then, her body quickly tensed up as she screamed out, gripping her head with her hands as she brought her face closer to the bed.

He watched as Rize shattered into a mental breakdown. He could only imagine what memories flashed through her mind.

He could understand her current state, as he, himself, has been through a similar situation. The torture he had to go through was as scarring mentally as it was to him physically. He doubted he ever recovered from the insanity he had to go throug… he merely coped with it.

But Rize…

Rize had been in captivity with Kanou for months. And he hardly doubted that Kanou was the type to induce his patients in a painless procedure. Just the thought of being trapped inside a machine as it extracted your innards for months… It was no wonder she nearly lost her sanity the last time.

Although, Rize seemed to be more stable than her prior state. Perhaps it was due to her shortened captivity as he rescued her as soon as possible… Or the fact that Yomo intentionally deprived her of food…

He didn't know, and he wasn't willing to find out. But with the fact that Rize tried to kill him earlier, it probably meant she wasn't as crazy as he thought.

Kaneki tried to call out her name, which only led to no responses from her. She just sat there, hugging her knees as close to her as possible, leaning against the bed rails as if it was her only form of protection.

She was unresponsive. Her face was painted with a crazed expression, and he thought he might have broken her with his little display.

The once fierce, infamous Binge Eater was now in a weakened state before him. Her body revolted, as she gripped the sides of her head like her life depended on it. Her eyes, now filled with utter madness and fear, as she stared into emptiness.

Kaneki honestly didn't know what to do with the situation. He wanted to have a conversation with the woman who literally dragged his life down to hell, but instead he invoked a violent PTSD breakdown.

He stared at her, looking down at her form as he wondered what the hell he was going to do. He, himself, was familiar with this, as he has had his fair share of mental trauma.

And if there was one thing he learned it was that the first thing he needed to do was snap back into reality.

He carefully and gingerly stretched his arm out unto the girl's shoulder as he began to give it a gentle rub. Much to his surprise, Rize began to relax, and he continued his approach.

A few seconds later the girl's breathing began to ease, and he swore he heard a few words come out of her mouth.

He leaned in closer to make out what she was saying, bringing his head merely a few inches away from her own until he could make out what she said.

"So…" Kaneki tensed as he suddenly felt her head jerk up revealing two blackened eyes staring right at him. "Delicous!"

In an instant Rize wrapped her arms around Kaneki's neck and began to bite down hard unto his shoulder.

Kaneki grit his teeth in pain as Rize frenzied on his shoulder. He immediately tried to push her off, but like a tick, she wouldn't budge; so he tried something else.

His kagune spawned from his back and began to forcefully wrap itself around Rize's hands as he pinned her firmly to the wall next to the bed and off him.

Kaneki panted deeply as he held unto his mutilated shoulder, but much to his relief it began to patch itself up; his muscles weaving themselves back together like thread.

Now, that was the second time a girl lost her mind right after biting down unto his shoulder. He really should be more careful next time.

He glanced at Rize once more, this time without letting his guard down. She consumed a lot of his flesh and blood, and he was sure as hell those handcuffs won't keep her in one place anymore.

Rize slowly tilted her head up to face him. The madness that clouded her vision was no longer there as sanity took over once more.

She gave him an analyzing look. Despite her movements being restricted, she still appeared just dangerous. He was honestly wondering what the hell the woman was thinking right now.

"Well…" Rize gave him a mocking smirk. "I didn't know you were a ghoul, Kaneki. And a half-ghoul above all else. Can't say I'm not interested in you right now."

He replied with his own. "Sorry I'll pass. Last time we went on a date, you tried to kill me."

Rize grunted at him. "Touché."

"So, you remember then." Kaneki paused letting his words sink itself into her thoughts. You remember what happened."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the fierceness in Rize's eyes visibly dropped. She was good at hiding it, but he could see her hands shaking a bit. Now that he came to realize it, it didn't help that he was currently restraining her.

"E-Everything." Rize spoke up, the ice and quiver in her tone reverberated around the small room. "The worst part about it was… He made sure to make you feel everything."

Rize's words caused Kaneki's heart to sink. Suddenly the room turned into black and white checkers for a moment. Suddenly he was in that _chair_ again.

Kaneki shut his eyes hard and shook the thought away. _'Not anymore.'_ He said to himself as Rize's broken form returned to his vision.

"You know what else I remember?" She continued. "I remember hating you, Kaneki. I hated you so much for what happened to me! I blamed you for everything!"

Rize's screams didn't falter him one bit. He just calmly stood there and took every single thing she told him, expecting those exact words to leave her mouth.

"I thought I lost my fucking mind!" She began to laugh bitterly. "I didn't know how much longer I could keep up my sanity… I swear if I even stayed there for even a few more days I would've lost it all!"

She then paused for a few moments, taking deep breaths as she tried to recompose herself. He couldn't help but relate to Rize's feelings. After all, he's been through them himself.

For the days that he was in Jason's chamber, for the days that he was tortured relentlessly. He couldn't deny that he already lost his mind. And if there was one thing that Jason did, that hurt him the most, it was breaking everything he was and everything he stood for.

Rize let out another deep breath. "That kagune." She slowly raised her head up, briefly examining the red tendrils wrapped around her arms before looking straight into his eyes. "That's mine isn't it? You're one of Kanou's experiments."

Not knowing how to respond to her, Kaneki kept his stern gaze and merely nodded at her question. As soon as he did so Rize let out a maniacal laugh that echoed around his home. "So, you're the first one. The prototype! I ruined your life, just as you did to me!" Rize paused for a moment as she tried to regain her breath. "Why the hell did you rescue me? You must fucking hate me too, right?"

"I don't."

Rize's laugh died out with his words. It was as if his answer was so strange and unbelievable that she couldn't comprehend such things to come from him.

"You're kidding…" Rize said, giving him a studying look. "Shit… You're serious?"

"I am." Kaneki replied. "Ever since I met you, my life has been twisted in such a way that it has become impossible for me to go back to my old life. I was tortured, cut in as many ways as possible, and for once in my life I had to live knowing that each day could be my last."

He stopped for a moment, closing his eyes as he remembered everything he's been through so far. The long journey of tragedy he's been through. The pain he's experienced living as a ghoul.

He's always told himself. If he could take it all back, if he could change anything, if he could make his life normal again… Would he?

Even if he went back a little earlier in time, even if he could go beyond meeting Rize, even if he could change everything entirely... If someone were to ask him, had he known everything that would've happened after...

He still would've met Rize on that fateful day.

After all, she was the person who made him who he was.

"I could never have brought myself to hate you." Kaneki's lone dark eye returned to its grey as his kagune dispersed itself into the air. "After all, without you I never would've found a place I could finally call home."

* * *

If someone were to ask him, what point in his life did everything change forever, someone would assume that it was when he first woke up in that hospital.

They weren't wrong.

But if they were to wonder of what point in his life made him who he was; what point gave him the most scars… It was this moment.

Kaneki knew that he was stronger than he once was, at this point in time. He knew that he wasn't the same college bookworm that he was when all this began. He knew that even if he wasn't on par with his strength from now, he was still strong on his own right.

But why was he still so scared?

Perhaps it was because of the many new variables he has introduced , perhaps because he was scared that things were slowly diverging from what he already knew.

But he guessed it was because, in a few hours, nothing would ever truly be the same.

In a few hours, the future will never be how he knew it would be.

"Onii-chan!" Hinami spoke up, perking her head upwards as she called his attention. "What does this word mean?"

Kaneki blinked his eyes as he recollected himself. He leaned downwards so he can catch a glimpse of what Hinami was pointing out. His eyes matched with the two symbols written on her book.

"That's a daffodil Hinami-chan." He said smiling as he ruffled her hair.

"Daffodil?"

"Yeah." He then pointed to the image of the yellow flower right at the corner of the page. "I learn a lot about hidden symbolic meanings in Kami. The daffodil represents new beginnings, or more frequently, uncertainty."

Kaneki shook his head at his explanation. It was as if some cosmic power was mocking him about his situation.

"What the hell are you teaching Hinami now?" He heard Touka say from behind him, followed by her footsteps as she pushed him to the side, looking at what Hinami was reading.

Kaneki raised his hands harmlessly. "Just helping Hinami read her book about flowers Touka-chan." He then looked around the café to realize that it was near empty, if not for the three of them. "Business sure is weak today."

Touka sighed as she adjusted her bangs. "Yeah, ever since dove activity went off the charts we've been getting fewer and fewer customers." She then looked down as she shook her head. "Folks probably think it's much safer to hide within their homes than risk stepping out and running into a dove. So much for being the most peaceful ward these days, huh?"

A gentle hand laid itself on Touka's shoulder, as Kaneki gave it a gentle squeeze. "Hey, I already told you, it's not your fault. We just have to lay low for a while, alright?"

It still held a bit of melancholy in it, but Touka gave him a small smile at his words. He smiled back, as he saw, in her eyes, the trust she had in him, despite his lie.

It was only a matter of time before things go down the drain.

As the bell rang, signaling the arrival of customers, the remaining staff of the café quickly turned their heads to greet the new guests.

Kaneki turned around, to see his old friend Banjou, a sinking feeling crept down his chest, quickly taking over the warm happiness he felt from seeing his friend once again.

Touka instinctively stood in front of Hinami protectively, as Banjou and his companions entered the café. Her muscles tense, and ready to spring into action, despite her calm composure.

Kaneki took the initiative and took a few strides forwards to greet the newcomers into the shop. "Welcome to Anteiku."

Banjou stood threateningly above him, making himself look more intimidating with their obvious height difference. But despite that, Kaneki knew more about him than Banjou could even imagine. But remembering how he was, if it was the old him here right now, he would've been scared shitless right now.

"Is the manager here?" Banjou said threateningly.

"I'm sorry, sir." He looked behind him, noticing the obvious glare Touka was sending out to Banjou, and decided to take the matters into his own hands. "The manager isn't here at the moment. Why don't you take a seat, and we can serve you and your friends a cup of coffee, if you'd like?"

"Yeah, no thanks."

This time Touka took a step forward, her face showing that she was not happy with the situation at all. "Then _sir_ , if you have no business here, would you like to leave a message for the manager instead?"

Banjou flinched, his face suddenly turning a little crimson as Touka spoke out to him. "Oh... you're a girl." Kaneki smiled at his old friend's banter, he knew he had a soft spot for women. Banjou then began to scratch the back of his head. "Yeah… There's something I wanna ask him… and you two."

Kaneki closed his eyes for a moment, knowing the next words to come out of Banjou's mouth.

"Do you know Rize Kamishiro?"

He opened his eyes to find Touka staring at him, she bit her lip and he could practically read the worried expression on her face.

He gave her a look that told her not to worry about it, and he turned around to face Banjou and his group. "Let's go inside." He then took Hinami's hand and gently brought her with him, as he began to ascend the staircase. "Follow me."

As the group began to follow Kaneki to their usual meeting room, he momentarily stopped in front of Hinami's room and opened the door for her, signaling her to come inside.

He gently ruffled her hair and gave her a small smile. "Everything's goinh to be alright. Just stay here for a while, ok?"

Hinami's face turned into a pout, but she nodded anyways; and went into her room, as he closed the door gently.

As the group, with the exception of Hinami, entered their meeting room and took their respective seats among the sofas, making themselves comfortable, Kaneki couldn't contain the avid feeling in his chest that something bad was going to happen.

"Let me see your eyes." Touka spoke up.

Banjou closed his eyes before opening them revealing two black scleras on his eyes. "Satisfied?" His eyes then reverted back to normal. "My name is Banjou, I was with Rize-san in the 11th ward."

"Was Rize your girlfriend?" Kaneki decided to speak up, realizing he could play the entire ordeal into his hands, as he knew the history between the two.

The reaction was instant. Banjou's face immediately turned into a tomato, and his tough-acting demeanor shrunk as followed.

"Uh-uh." Banjou tried to recollect himself from his stutter. "N-no... But she is someone special to me!" He exclaimed, slamming his fist down the table.

"So it's kinda like a one-sided love huh?" Touka commented mercilessly.

Banjou's calm demeanor dropped even more after that. Kaneki swore he heard Banjou's heart shatter into a thousand pieces at Touka's remark.

Kaneki's head snapped towards Touka's direction. She casually shrugged her shoulders at him, as he gave her a small glare before turning back to Banjou and his companions.

"Sorry about that." Kaneki scratched the back of his head, not knowing what to make out of the situation.

Banjou sighed before taking in a lot of air as he puffed his chest. "N-no… It's ok. She's right."

"Banjou-san…" One of Banjou's companions spoke out, her voice evident with sympathy as she said so.

"I met Rize in the 11th ward." Banjou said sadly. "She was smart, beautiful, and fierce. It was hard not to admire her… Although she left not too long, said she got bored..been looking for her ever since."

The room was silent for a few moments as they processed Banjou's words. Kaneki then stood up and placed a hand on Banjou's shoulders.

"You probably have a lot of things you want to tell Rize." He then gently took a few steps back, not wanting Banjou to act impulsively at his next words. "The thing is, I met her when we went out to go on a date here in Anteiku."

Immediately the room went tense, Kaneki could feel Banjou's blood boiling, so he didn't let the silence linger for too long. "The thing is, she was baiting me out, so she could eat me."

This gave out looks of confusion from everyone in the room; except Touka, who stood up almost instantly. "Kaneki!" Touka exclaimed, wondering what the hell went through Kaneki's mind.

He turned around to face her and gave her a look that asked her to trust him, before turning around to face Banjou's group. "You see… I'm actually human." He then closed his eyes, feeling the rush in his body as his lone kakugan flared to life.

He slowly opened his eyes, earning gasps from Banjou and his friends. "But ever since that date with Rize, I turned into something you can call a half-ghoul." He stretched his arm out to Banjou. "Tell me, how do I smell like?"

Banjou, still surprised and shocked at Kaneki's news, took a few moments to process his request before taking a sniff at Kaneki's scent. "You smell just like Rize!"

"I do but not quite." A lone red tendril spawned from his back earning another gasp from Banjou and his friends. "When Rize tried to eat me, a rather fortunate incident occurred. Ever heard of the steel beam accident here in the 20th ward a few months ago?"

Banjou took a while to think about his words, before his eyes widened in realization. "Judging by the expression on your face, I guess you pieced two and two together?" Kaneki asked to which Banjou nodded.

"The steel beams crushed Rize, and the doctor who did this to me, transplanted her kakuhou into my body. Ever since then, I've been like this." Kaneki said grimly, studying the expression on Banjou's face after he released the bombshell on the poor guy.

He watched as Banjou's hands started to quiver, and Kaneki could guess what the guy was thinking in his head.

"So Rize…" He swallowed as a lump formed on his throat. "Is she…"

"Dead?" He said the words, and he could see the dreadful expression on Banjou's face. "No, she's alive."

He felt a hand on his shoulder as Touka pulled him to face her. A confused and outraged look was etched into her face, as she herself couldn't believe what he just said.

He was then pulled, yet again, as he felt Banjou's hands gripping his shirt, forcing him to direct his attention back to him. "Do you know where she is?!"

"I do." Kaneki said calmly. "But first I need you to tell me something, and I can promise you that I can take you to her."

Banjou then released his grip from Kaneki's shirt feeling guilty for his impulsiveness. "I-I'm sorry… Alright, what do you want to know?"

"You went here because Aogiri is looking for Rize-san, right?"

"Y-yeah. How did you know that?" Banjou gave Kaneki a questioning look. "A few days ago, this crazy doctor came in, along with these two black and white chicks."

Kaneki tensed up as he immediately recognized who Banjou was referring to. If that was the case, then that could only mean that Kanou kept to his word; and that could only mean one thing… but he needed to confirm it first.

Banjou placed a hand on Kaneki's shoulder. "You have to get out of here. I overheard my boss talking about how they had some business to do here, and they were going by the numbers."

Banjou looked straight into Kaneki's eyes, and they both had the same idea in their minds. "I think they were talking about you, Kaneki."

Kaneki froze as his world began to turn upside down. How could he be so reckless and careless with his decisions? How could he have expected things to be the same, despite all the new variables he introduced?

Rize wasn't supposed to be rescued yet, but he was so prompt up at being the hero. He wanted to play the messiah, the man who can save the world; when he let go of the one thing that could've given him an edge.

He knew exactly how everything would play out.

He expected this to be the turning point of the cards of fate, the point wherein he'd make the largest change for the future, the point in time where he couldn't turn back anymore… but he was wrong.

The moment he woke up from that hospital, he already changed so many things. And now…

And now he endangered everyone.

He heard loud footsteps from behind him, and when he felt the hand being lifted from his shoulder he saw Touka angrily gripping unto Banjou's arm.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Touka exclaimed at the larger man. "Kaneki ain't got shit to do with Aogiri!"

Kaneki was momentarily fazed at Touka's sudden over protectiveness. It was nice knowing that she cared this much for him. But he had to take responsibility for his actions.

"Touka-chan." He said gently, despite the weighing feeling on his chest.

Touka merely ignored him as she stood between him and Banjou.

He then grabbed both of her arms and gently spun her around to face him. "Touka-chan…" He read her eyes carefully, he saw the look of worry and concern she gave him, despite her rash demeanor. "He's right."

Before any words could come out of her mouth he beat her to it. "I went after the man who did this to me. I made a huge mistake, I've endangered everyone now…" He looked down in shame and worry before looking up to her eyes. "I found Rize. Tortured, experimented on like an animal. I brought her with me back here, and I think they're coming for her, too."

Kaneki gripped his fists until blood started to leak out from where his nails dug into his skin. He needed to fix this. He couldn't let his friends, his _family_ , take the consequences of his miscalculations. Kaneki needed to act, and he needed to act now.

Kaneki walked towards the shelf where he kept his stuff before work began, and hastily removed his apron, and just as quickly took out his modified quinque and holstered it on his belt.

It seemed that tragedy followed him wherever he went, whenever he went, no matter whatever he did.

"Touka-chan." He said gently as, much to her surprise, he placed a hand on her cheek. "I need you to call everyone and tell them to get here as soon as possible."

He then felt a stinging sensation on his left cheek. Touka had just slapped him – rather hard, at that. "And what the hell are you going to do, huh? You're going after her, aren't you!? I don't care how strong you think you are, Kaneki! You can't possibly think that you can take on Aogiri!"

He guessed he deserved that. All he's been doing ever since he got there was cause them pain and worry. He placed a hand on each of her arms and began gently rubbing circles with his thumbs. "You know, you still look pretty when you're mad."

He knew it was an improper situation, but he wouldn't take back the flustered look on Touka's face for the world, right now. Seeing and touching the woman he loved, even if she couldn't remember what he remembered, even if she didn't share the memories that he shared with her… It still gave him strength.

And he knew that he had someplace to come back to. That's why he had to protect his home. "I'm not that foolish, Touka-chan, I never saw myself as invincible." He gazed at her for a brief moment before turning around, knowing he couldn't bear the look on her face, if he kept gazing at her longer. "They'll come for me, no matter what. And I don't know if I can take them all on, or how long I can keep at it. But I do know one thing..."

"Banjou-san, can I trust you to keep them safe?" Kaneki said as he faced the door and readied himself for what was about to come.

"I-I have to go with you! But…" Banjou wavered, and Kaneki could guess what went through his mind.

Banjou knew he wasn't strong enough.

"Don't worry. Leave everything to me." He then opened the door leading out the meeting room, and turned around to face them for a second. "Keep them safe, and stay here. The doves are going to rain down the 20th ward."

It was a longshot. And he might as well have put a bullseye painted on his back, but if Banjou was right and it wasn't just Ayato and Jason coming for Rize this time then…

He had to split their numbers.

Doing so will definitely break whatever peace the 20th ward currently had but… If he doesn't atleast try something then…

His friends, his _family_ , might die.

Before he could make his way through the front entrance, he heard footsteps follow from behind him and Touka came running down the staircase, holding her rabbit mask in her hand.

"Kaneki!" He looked towards Touka, his heart nearly sinking at the helpless look she had on her face. "Let me go with you! I can help!"

 _"Take me with you…"_

A sad smile crept unto Kaneki's face as a nostalgic feeling swept through his chest. _'You never really changed Touka-chan.'_

"I know you're strong, Touka… but this is my responsibility. I can't let you get hurt for my mistakes." He then looked behind him to find Hinami, taking a small peek from her room. "Someone has to take care of Hinami."

It nearly broke his heart to see her the way she was right now. She knew he made sense, and as his words reached her, he could tell that she knew he was right.

Touka grit her teeth and closed her eyes in frustration. "You better come back…" He heard her say beneath her breath. "Or you might as well be sure as hell that I'll be coming for you!"

As Kaneki opened the doors and the familiar chime of bells was heard across the empty café, Kaneki turned around for a moment, taking a glance at Touka for one last time.

"I promise." Was all he said as the doors closed leaving Touka alone watching him run off the distance.

He didn't lie.

Or, at least, he hoped not to.

* * *

(Kurona POV)

"Sure is a pretty sight, isn't it?" Nashiro asked her as they stared at the sunset that buried itself beneath the tall buildings of the 20th ward.

"It's quite hard to appreciate such a scene in a place like this, Shiro-chan."

The two of them currently stood atop a rooftop, their contrasting hairs dancing against the wind flying past them.

"Well, should we get started, then? It's the right address, right?" Her sister asked her, as she studied the piece of paper between her fingers.

"It is. I made sure to check, and it's not like papa has ever been wrong. And besides…" Kurona felt her lone kakugan burst to life as her senses extended even beyond her reach. "I can smell _her_. She's close by."

"While we're at it, why don't we trash Onii-chan's place too?" Her sister spoke up once more as a vengeful smile etched itself unto her face. "After all, he did _destroy_ our home."

"Sounds good, Shiro… It sounds wonderful." A lone crimson tendril burst from her back as she slipped her mask on. The spiteful tone in her voice muffled against the material of her mask. "I'm sure Papa would be glad to find his little experiment back into his hands after all."

Almost in sync, the twins leaped through the air as they headed straight for their current target. Glass shattered as they kagunes simultaneously broke through the glass doors of the balcony.

And as the dust cleared in their wake, they found their target picking herself up from the floor as she looked up at them with hateful eyes.

"Papa never said you could go anywhere _Nee-chan_." Nashiro said coldly as she raised her kagune at Rize. "We'll be taking you back now."

"Whether you like it." Nashiro screamed as she leaped into the air, as her lone kagune poised itself ready to strike. "Or not!"

* * *

 _ **What?! Did I hear someone scream at me for making them wait a month for yet another cliffhanger?! Yes... Yes I did. So here's the good news and the bad news. Bad news is: Hey look at that another build up chapter that ends with a cliffhanger. Good news is: This was suppose to be half of the original chapter but I realized that, damn this shit is long af, so I decided to split the chapter into two(also because i tend to be lazy to write so it kills two birds with one stone), so expect the next one to be updated, not in a month, not in 2 weeks but...Wait for it...**_

 ** _Around next week! sounds great right? So I hope it doesn't dissapoint._**

 ** _Before I start this short rant lemme just say this real quick... HOLY shih tzu almost a thousand follows and faves not to mention 200+ reviews? Damn you guys put this fic on the top page real quick. And for that. You're all a bunch of awesome people, like seriously man I say this every chapter but I just can't help but appreciate the fact that people actually like what I'm making. So thank you so much for that, and I do hope you guys continue to support us in this ever so-late updated fic._**

 ** _And well shit. TG is finally coming to a close, and I have to admit it kinda made me put some more effort into writing the next chapters in honor of the amazing story it gave to us. And I know a lot of you guys hate the action scenes in the anime adaptation but I have to admit they got the drama going pretty well at the very least. There's more to come on winter but for now I'll try to fill in for that TG craving while we wait. So yes, this fic will go on for quite sometime, possibly the entire year or so._**

 ** _But enough of that, thank you for the continuous support everyone! Don't hate me for the upcoming cliffhangers!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui_**


	15. Chapter 15: Domino

"I could never have brought myself to hate you."

Rize stared at Kaneki in disbelief at his words, as if only a madman would confess such things to her. "After all, without you I never would've found a place I could finally call home."

She observed Kaneki with a mix of curiosity and a hint of insanity. She half expected him to shake his head and take back everything he said, but no…

…he just stood there. His face was serious, and he wasn't joking at all.

It brought about a feeling in her chest. A nostalgic feeling that rooted a common expression that was evident on some of the faces of her prey, as life slowly slipped away from their eyes.

As common sense dusted itself away and as they lay in a pool of their own blood, with a mad look of insanity as they watched themselves die.

Kaneki had that same look on his face, the last time she saw him, after all.

Perhaps he really has lost his mind.

"Home…Is that – what? Your coping mechanism to deal with everything that's happened to you?" She said rather spitefully at the person who's ruined her life entirely. "Don't make me laugh, Kaneki. I thought you were naïve, but this is just comedic. You're insane."

For a human to find a home with ghouls is absolutely insane. It was psychotic to even think that way.

A pig can live in a farm where it can find shelter, food, and even nurture. It can live in the illusion for the rest of its life, until one day it's slaughtered and butchered into food.

That's what humans are to ghouls. Glorified butcher meat for them to feed on – the only difference is, the pigs fight back.

Kaneki gave her a rather passive glare. "Someone like you, who's only lived her life running away would never know what a home is."

An intense feeling of bitterness etched itself through Rize's chest. Kaneki's words struck home quite figuratively and literally. Rize clenched her fists in anger at Kaneki, hoping that she had her kagune right now to tear him apart for his mockery.

"What did you just tell me?" Rize warned, her tone daring him to repeat himself.

"You heard me." Kaneki leaned his face merely inches away from hers, as if to dare her even more so. "You. A girl who just runs away from her problems. How can you possibly understand what a home is?"

Rize felt her kakugan flare to life as she swung her hand right at Kaneki's face. Her face was etched in fury as she watched the blood leak out from Kaneki's left cheek, right where she slashed at him causing him to lean back.

"Don't talk to me like you know what I've been through." Rize growled at him.

Already the wounds started to patch itself together at an abnormal rate even greater than her own. It showed how inhuman Kaneki was now, and it surprised her even to this extent.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know who you are Rize." Kaneki said, unfazed by the three deep gashes on his cheek. "But rest assured that…"

The blood that was leaking down his face slowly crawled its way back into his skin in such a supernatural way that it only reminded her of one place that she wished she could never come back to. "I know where you came from."

Cold. Bitter fucking cold. Was all she could sense from the man before her.

It crawled its way back to her again. The feeling that has etched itself into her heart ever since those beams fell on top of her.

No… It's been there a lot longer than that. She had all the time in the world to reflect on herself inside that tank after all.

The feeling that she was introduced to when she first ran away from home… The dread of thought that if she would stop running from even a second, they'd come to take her back.

That dread that stemmed from fear.

And right now as she stared into Kaneki's icy grey eyes. She could feel it crawl its way into her heart once more.

And there was nothing she'd love to do now than to run away, far far away from this place.

"You're lying." She cried out in disbelief. "Noone can possibly know about that place."

"Do you know why Kanou decided to pick you out from the streets Rize-chan?" She then watched as Kaneki brought out a lone crimson tendril from his back and brought it before him. Slowly he began altering its shape, even to the point that a mouth started to form on his kagune. "Your clan has a rather special set of genes. You could say from the moment you're born you already posses a kakuja."

Rize watched in shock as she observed Kaneki's ability to manipulate his kagune to such an extent. She was aware of what her clan was capable of but has rarely seen it in action since she ran away.

To think that someone like Kaneki. A man turned into a ghoul was capable of such a feat… Was terrifying, already she could sense the gap in their capabilities, it was almost unnatural for him to master such an ability.

"I'm sure you're aware of this. The more RC cells there are in your body, the more your kagune mutates." Kaneki continued, his kagune slowly dispersing into the air as he did so. "The Washuu have been cannibalizing for generations, with each generation evolving to become more powerful than the previous. I've barely been a ghoul for a few months and yet I could almost effortlessly do this. Normal ghouls are incapable of doing this, it was as if it was already there."

"Why are you telling me this?" Rize demanded. "How the hell do you know these things? You're not even answering my question!"

Kaneki merely shook his head. "Kanou may have been a madman but one couldn't deny his genius, especially when it comes to your kind. You probably weren't aware of it, but he knew who you are long before those beams fell on you."

Rize's eyes widened as sudden realization made its way into her mind. Then that meant…

"You've had a target on your back much longer than you thought." Kaneki said as if reading her thoughts. "And to answer your question, I did raid his lab after all. And I didn't do it alone."

"Anteiku…" She looked into his eyes in search for answers. "They were a part of this?"

Once more Kaneki shook his head. "No. I took matters into my own hands."

"But why?"

"You could say that I know something you don't know." Kaneki then lightly touched his cheek, tracing the new tender muscle on it. "Your kakuhou is currently the best catalyst for Kanou's experiments, I'm sure you're aware of how difficult it is to have your hands on a Washuu after all."

A Washuu… That was something that she hasn't heard someone call her in such a long time, it almost sounded like a mockery of sorts.

But if Kaneki knew what she was and where she came from, then… He really knew more than he gave out. She didn't know if she could trust him but, all her other options didn't strike well for her either.

"Even if you run, Aogiri will still keep looking for you." Kaneki continued.

"Aogiri?" She asked.

"I told you, a lot's changed since those beams fell on you." He then began to walk towards his desk and took a newspaper that he laid in front of her. "An anti-human organization that's been wrecking havoc ever since. Worst part is, I think Kanou's going to join them soon."

As if understanding the look on her face, Kaneki beat her to the question. "Yeah, that means they're after you too."

Suddenly, it dawned on her how deep into shit she really was. It felt like there was no safe place for her to go anymore. And she'd rather die than go back to that _place._

She'd hate to admit it, but slowly... Kaneki was becoming rather convincing.

"I don't know if I should trust you, Kaneki." She finally spoke out. "I admit, you make a lot of sense, but tell me… How can I assure that you aren't one of _them,_ and not only manipulating me to do whatever the hell you have to say?! A few months ago, I even tried to kill you. And suddenly I'm here, and you're trying to help me? That doesn't make any fucking sense doesn't it?"

"If you want to stay alive and _free_ then you're going to have to trust me." He spoke to her in an icy tone. "If it were up to me I would've just let you rot in that tank. But like I said… I know something you don't."

"Why don't you just fucking tell me, then?"

"I can't" was all he said as a sudden alarm rang off from his watch. "Listen, I have to go. We can make time for negotiations later, so I'll let you make up your mind. I think you're rational enough to know that, aside from this place, you don't have a better place to go to right now."

He then walked out of the room for a few moments, before coming back in, and placing a plate on the table next to her. The plate had something wrapped in aluminum foil, but just from the smell, she could tell it was meat.

"You're unrestrained, so I'm sure you can help yourself out." He then pointed towards a duffel bag on the floor. "There are some clothes in there that you could wear. I had a friend fix them for me, so don't blame me for whatever you find in there. Should you decide to leave, you can take the bag with you."

Rize stared at the person before her in confusion. She didn't know what game Kaneki was playing, but it was something she couldn't make out herself.

"Why are you doing this for me, Kaneki?" She stared at him, waiting for a response.

Kaneki didn't respond. He merely walked towards the door leading out the room. As he turned around, she could see the holstered weapon attached to his belt. She's had enough experience to know that it was a quinque. And, yet again, more questions were made as to how he was able to ask such a thing.

Was he from V? The sunlit garden? Maybe from the CCG? She didn't know. Although there was only one thing she could make out of him right now.

It was the obvious fact that she needed him right now, whoever he really was.

And just as she accepted the fact that Kaneki wasn't going to give her any valid answer, he spoke up.

"It was because I wanted to try something different."

The answer, like everything Kaneki said right now, posed more questions than answers; but this time she didn't bother questioning what he said.

"Where are you going?" was all she asked from him.

"Anteiku." He then turned his head to the side, where she could see one eye stare into her own. "Aogiri is coming."

* * *

Rize felt an odd sense of comfort, as the water washed itself down against her hair.

It was almost a foreign feeling after being deprived of it for such a long time. It felt as if all the heavy layers of dirt on her skin was slowly being washed away after being there for so long.

Despite her current state of rest, her mind was drifting elsewhere. It kept wandering between the moment of the supposed accident and to the point where she found herself now.

It was troubling to think about how she could possibly deal with all the trauma she's experienced up to this point. Just the thought of Kanou… And everything he's done to her made her feel like vomiting.

She closed her eyes and fought back the urge, as she forced her thoughts on her last encounter with the person who dragged her into this hell of a shithole.

She didn't know what to make up of anything he's said, but she couldn't deny how convincing he was to make her feel like she was fucked if she tried to do anything alone.

In contrast to how he seemed when she first met him, he was quite possibly an entirely different person as to how he seemed right now. It was almost fake, and hard to believe how a person, as naïve as what Kaneki initially seemed to be, turned out to be as cold and as ruthless as she's never expected.

A rather sane person would know to never trust someone who would never show his true face; and quite frankly, Rize wasn't the trusting type either.

But she also doubted her sanity, and it's not like she had any other choice in the matter.

And if there was one thing Rize Kamishiro hated the most, it was being locked up and controlled.

That's why not even her father, Shachi, could control her.

But deep within her very thoughts, deep within her hedonistic desires, deep within her desire to be unchained and unrestricted... Rize knew that she was tired of running away.

The water dripped down the tiled flooring as Rize closed the shower and took a step out the cold wet floor. She began to wipe away the vapor that fogged the mirror, revealing her bare naked reflection for her to see. She began to trace the outlines of her face, feeling the slight malnourishment from her time in captivity.

Rize stared at her bare reflection, looking from top to bottom as she studied the changes in her appearance.

Time in that tank not only took away her mental health, but it also did a good job of taking away her physical condition. She found that her skin radiated a deathly pale, and looking at her chest, she could see the outlines of her ribs more clearly.

And, perhaps one of the most gradual changes to her appearance, was the few white streaks on her hair.

Rize felt like she was watching a stranger looking at her in the mirror. The changes aren't exaggerated, as she still looked like herself, but at the same time looked… different.

Suddenly, a sharp fury rose from her chest and with the urge to let it out, Rize found herself staring at her distorted reflection in the newly broken mirror.

She regained her composure and headed towards Kaneki's room, where she took out a few pieces of clothing that suited her taste.

Putting on a maroon tank top and some jeans, she found it quite surprising on how Kaneki could obtain such branded clothes in the sorry state his apartment was in.

It didn't take long for Rize to wander around the relatively small confined space of Kaneki's home. She didn't know if he was just like this, or if he was just busy, but there were quite a few clutters littered around.

As she appeased her boredom, she did notice an odd detail. Although she didn't quite have any herself, it was still odd for her not to find a single photograph in Kaneki's home.

Just like everything else, Rize decided to ignore it as she didn't want to bother herself with things like that.

Although, she had to admit to herself that she was quite curious. Ghouls were rather interesting, yet predictable people who lived in the shadows. But Kaneki –

Rize's thoughts were cut off as the glass door by the balcony shattered into a thousand pieces.

The steel frame hit her straight in the chest, and Rize was knocked back as she rolled against the floor.

Rize began to slowly pick herself up from the ground as her eyes locked unto the balcony. Thousands of shards were littered across the floor and two figures appeared standing right before it.

The binge eater narrowed her eyes grudgingly as she recognized the two intruders who stood before her.

"Papa never said you could go anywhere _Nee-chan_." The girl clad in white spoke up as her kagune poised itself with the intent to strike her. "We'll be taking you back now."

"Whether you like it – " the girl then leaped into the air, with her kagune raised deadly towards her direction. "Or not!"

One of the twins lunged forward, her dark cowl fluttered against the air as she spun around with her lone kagune, poised to strike.

Rize spun around and barely managed to evade the attack that was now currently embedded into the wall, where she once stood.

Without wasting any time, Rize felt the sudden rush in her veins as her kakugan flared to life. Rize danced around her opponents' kagune – her hand stretched out as she aimed to dig her claws into the girl's chest.

Before Rize could make contact with her, the white clad half-ghoul was suddenly darted backwards, causing Rize to miss her attack as a black silhouette came from the corner of her eye.

Rize felt a sharp jab at her side as she was launched straight into Kaneki's dining table, splitting it into two.

Rize grunted in pain, feeling her ribs break from the sudden impact. She slowly tried to pick herself up despite the injury, but found herself violently pinned to the ground, as the black-clad twin wrapped her kagune around Rize's neck.

Rize tried to struggle, desperately trying to get the kagune off her neck as she cried to claw her way out of the crimson tendril. Her efforts were wasted, as she could barely make a scratch on the scaly appendage. She helplessly tried to force her own kagune to spawn to life, but to no avail.

"Thank you, Kuro-chan." Rize heard the white clad ghoul say. "I got reckless, she nearly got me."

"Don't worry about it, Shiro-chan." Kuro said, without taking her eyes of Rize. "What's important is we have _Papa's_ lab rat in our hands again."

The room was suddenly lit up with Rize's mocking laughter. "Really?" Rize began to cry out in laughter once more. "Black and White?! Who the hell named you two? Your shitty parents or fucking Kanou?!"

Her laughter died out as Kuro lifted her off the ground and slammed her violently into the ground while tightening a grip around her.

"Quiet, bitch." Rize began to struggle for air as Kuro continuously tightened her grip even more. "I'll make sure you feel everything Papa will do to you once we get back."

It was ironic. The sinking feeling in her gut, the dread that echoed her very thought. In that moment, Rize felt just like the victims she fed on. Time in captivity really has changed her… It turned her into a coward.

She put on a brave face as she clawed violently against her very own kagune used against her. Her brave face was slowly staggering away as her through emotions were slowly leaking out. And a primal sense of fear slowly began to envelope Rize's heart.

She felt just like the humans that she preyed on; faces laced with desperation and survival in the face of danger. She really has changed, ever since she was trapped inside that tank.

Then, as Rize slowly began to give up, a spark lit from within her; a single light lit up a possible chance of escape.

And in that spark, she saw a certain raven haired boy, mocking her once more.

"Shiro-chan" Kuro looked back towards her sister, momentarily taker her eyes of Rize. "Let's take this-"

Kurona was cut off as, in an instant, a lone crimson tendril burst from Rize's back and tore its way through her chest, letting out a soft gasp of pain from her mouth.

The kagune dispersed into the air as instantly as it spawned but it was all Rize needed as Kurona's grip around her neck loosened significantly, and Rize took her chance.

Rize tore away the kagune wrapped around her and quickly grabbed at Kurona's neck and arm; and in a twist of movement, a sickening crunch was heard as Kurona found herself on the ground, screaming in pain, as Rize tore at her ligaments.

Rize heard Nashiro cry out for her sister and quickly rolled to the side, feeling warm liquid drip down her arm as Nashiro managed to get a hit on her.

Rize didn't hesitate to quickly get up and run towards the balcony, not withdrawing her only chance of escape.

With the rush of adrenaline in her veins, Rize leapt straight through the broken balcony with her arms crossed out as she braced for impact for her fall.

From her back, she could make out Nashiro's screams which were soon muffled by the following wind that sped past her ears as she rapidly descended unto the ground.

Rubber violently cried against the pavement as Rize crashed straight into the hood of a car. Soon after rolling towards the ground, she fell hard into the cold asphalt.

Rize's view was a haze. She felt pain that was almost comparable as to when those steel beams crushed and fell on her.

It didn't take long for her to realize that she was lying in a forming pool of her own blood, with the rusty smell of iron mixed with burnt rubber filling her nostrils.

Rize felt extremely weak as the adrenaline faded away from her system, and she also felt the side effects of forcing herself to bring out a kagune despite being near empty.

She heard a car door open and hurried, panicked footsteps made their way towards her.

"Oh my God…" She heard a voice come from what seemed to be a male. "Miss... What happened to you… What have I done!?"

She felt shaky warm hands reach out to her, and instantly her eyes snapped open, revealing pitch black eyes, and a deadly single glowing red iris directed itself straight into the cowering eyes of the unlucky man that stumble into her and it was too late.

Her hand felt warm against the person's still beating heart. With blood crawling down her hand, much to her delight, she stared into the terrified look the man gave her as her hand pierced its way through his chest.

Rize pulled her hand out and began to feast on the still beating heart, as the man dropped dead into the ground, unable to make out any new words as he did so.

Rize then scurried as she painfully pulled herself up, feeling her wounds slowly repair themselves from her current meal.

She then stood up, limping towards the sidewalk, leaving the violent scene she created behind her. She had bigger things to worry about, as Kanou's brats were still hot on her tail.

Her vision started to grow clearer as she made her way through the alleyway, knowing that, as of right now, she had no other choice but to go with the offer given to her.

With no other option, Rize ignored the pain as her strength slowly came back to her and quickened her pace to make her way to Anteiku…

…To make her way to Kaneki.

* * *

(Touka POV)

Touka kept a firm hand on Hinami's, as they sat by the café's near-empty lounge.

The six current occupants of the café were in distress at the current situation given to them at hand, with Kaneki being gone for almost half an hour since he left for his new collection and his growing count of suicide missions.

It frustrated her so much knowing that she couldn't do anything to help Kaneki. But that was nothing compared to how pissed off she was to know that he's managed to dig himself into another sinking shithole.

HInami's grip on her hand was tight, and Touka knew that the younger girl was probably going through a lot of emotional stress as of the moment.

It also didn't help that it's only been a few weeks since her mom had left her, and yet again the possibility that she could lose someone once more, made its appearance ever so suddenly.

Good fucking job Kaneki.

"Onii-chan will be ok, right?" Hinami spoke up. It didn't take a genius to know that she sounded worried. "I mean… Onii-chan is strong! He'll come back right?"

The desperate spark of hope that lingered on Hinami's face almost made Touka want to turn away from her.

"Don't worry, Hinami-chan." Touka then began to ruffle Hinami's auburn hair. "Kaneki may act stupid, but he's really smart and really strong. He'll always find a way to get out of every shithole that he creates for himself?"

Hinami then tilted to her head to the right, a curious look etched its way to her face. "Shithole?"

"No don't say that!" Touka immediately grimaced at herself. "Uhm… Don't say that… I meant to say mess. Yeah. Mess…"

Not wanting to pollute the poor child's mind any further, Touka quickly turned towards the four other occupants of the café, with a sour expression on her face.

She noticed Banjou, the bigger one of the group, flinch in worry, knowing he was just about to get a mouthful from her.

And damn right he was.

Touka let go of Hinami's hand and began to pace towards Banjou, her heels clicked at the flooring and she could tell that with every step, the man became more and more anxious.

"You better start talking or you'll start losing body parts." Touka said, feeling her eyes flare as she activated her kakugan. Despite her small frame, she grabbed on the larger man's shirt, bringing him to her eye level. "Don't make me start counting to five."

She heard his companions brace themselves, ready to back their leader up for whatever stunt she was about to pull off. But she could tell that they didn't want to get involved themselves.

Banjou raised his arms in surrender and signaled for his companions to take it easy. "L-look, I only told you as much as I know, missy." He paused, but Touka's grip tightened as she raised her other hand, poised to strike at him. "I-I never wanted to join Aogiri ok? But they forced my ward to our knees, and if we wanted to survive we had no choice but to join them."

Feeling that Banjou would start talking from this point on, Touka let go of the larger man, earning a sigh of relief from his companions. She then crossed her arms and leaned against the table, giving Banjou a look that demanded him to tell her everything he knew.

Banjou sighed as he began to scratch the back of his neck. "I told you, I only came here against boss's orders because I heard that they knew Rize was here, so I uh…" She noticed the flustered look he gave in embarrassment. "… Wanted to get here first and find her so I could warn her about them just in case I ran into her."

He then looked straight at Touka, looking for a response much to his disappointment. "I knew I wasn't strong enough to protect her especially against the people they were sending here… So I uh, thought that I could at least warn her, even if they were gonna give me hell for it."

Touka studied the man who was foolishly and deeply infatuated with Rize, looking for any hint of dishonesty and finding none. She thought for a moment and figured that if they had any chance of getting through this, they may need Banjou to help them.

"Fine." Touka said, as Banjou gave her a look of surprise. "But let me tell you this, Banjou. Anteiku may be peaceful, but we ain't weak. If you ever so try to deceive us, I can't guarantee you'd get out of this alive."

Banjou paled at Touka's threat and raised his arms in surrender. "Believe me, Touka-chan. I wouldn't want to be in this mess as much as you right now."

Touka sighed. "Now, tell me. Who the hell is your boss even?"

She saw Banjou's look darken, she even noticed his companions flinch slightly at her question. It didn't take long for her to know that whoever their boss was, he wasn't someone to take lightly.

"Ah well…" Banjou sighed to himself. "I don't know if you've ever heard of him but he… He kinda looks like you, actually."

A sinking feeling brought an icy touch in Touka's chest. As she quickly came into an assumption that caused her arms to shiver ever so slightly, as she braced for Banjou's next words.

"The Black Rabbit." Banjou said and Touka let out a quivering breath. "Ayato Kirishima."

Now that was a name she hasn't heard in awhile. It brought a bitter feeling, remembering her brother once again.

 _'So that edgy bastard ended up joining that organization, huh…'_ She thought to herself, feeling a slight tint of guilt as she blamed herself for Ayato to this day.

"Touka?" Banjou spoke up, breaking her from her trance. "Are you alright?"

Touka shook her head as she snapped back into reality. "Huh… Yeah."

"And it's not just him." Banjou continued. "I heard that a lot of the executives are headed this way. Seems like Kaneki's made quite the name for himself."

Touka began to grip the table hard, as a sense of worry filled her thoughts. She knew Kaneki was strong; she saw how he handled the CCG during their last run together.

But she couldn't stop the aching feeling in her chest as she stood here in safety, waiting for Kaneki to come back.

She hated to admit it to herself, but it hurt knowing that he might not come back.

Every occupant of the café turned their heads towards the door as it chimed, signaling someone has entered the café.

"I came here as soon as I got your message." Kaya said, as she came into Anteiku. Her neck was laced with sweat, and Touka knew she must have run all the way here. "Is everyone alright? Where's Kaneki?"

"Kaya-Onee-san!" Hinami cried out as she ran towards the older woman, wrapping her arms around her as she did so.

Kaya lowered herself to Hinami's level and gently brushed her hand against the younger girl's hair. "Shhh… It'll be alright, HInami-chan." Kaya then looked towards Touka. "What happened, Touka? And who are these people?"

Touka closed her eyes as she tried to compose herself. "Kaneki…" She let out a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Got into some deep shit with Aogiri."

This brought Kaya on her feet, looking at Touka with a look of surprise. "What?!"

Banjou was the one to step forward this time. "Uh… Miss." Banjou coughed, tying to clear his voice. "You see here…"

Banjou then began to explain the situation, from the beginning to where they currently were now. Kaya seemed to keep herself quiet as she listened intently on Banjou's explanation.

When he finished, Kaya immediately turned towards Touka, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Touka, have you contacted the manager about this?"

"Yeah, I have."

Kaya nodded her head. "Good, we have to stay here until he gets back."

"What!?" Touka said in outrage. "What about Kaneki!? We can't just leave him be!"

Touka's chest was heaving at Kaya's orders. She couldn't believe it. Anteiku weren't the type to just leave their own.

"Kaneki is facing his own responsibilities." Kaya sighed. "We're not abandoning him, but right now, we can't act recklessly, especially with everything going around the 20th ward!"

Touka grit her teeth in frustration. Irimi made a point, but… She couldn't bring it to herself to just abandon him and leave him to his own devices like that. And with Irimi here to watch over Hinami, there wasn't anything holding her back.

"I know that, but…" Touka then gripped unto the rabbit mask holstered on her back pocket. "… I can't just leave him be, when he risked his life to save me."

Irimi, realizing what Touka's intentions were, quickly reached out for the impulsive girl, but it was too late.

Touka immediately ran up the stairs, straight to where her and Hinami's room was and locked the door behind her. She then quickly changed her attire into one that suited more movement. Replacing her uniform with a black hooded coat that hid herself well as she placed her mask on.

Irimi called out to her repeatedly as she banged on the door frame, demanding Touka to open it, which Touka ignored.

She would admit that it was rash, and impulsive, and she didn't know why she allowed herself to be like this; but she didn't care.

Her mind wouldn't rest at ease until she knew that Kaneki was alright.

The doors to her quarters were slammed open, but it was too late. A frantic Irimi walked into the room only to find a cold breeze enter from the open windows.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

He was too late.

Kaneki slammed his fists hard on to his apartment's wall. He walked amongst the thousands of broken shards scattered about his home.

Splintered wood and large dents decorated his living room. But what caught his attention the most was the marks of blood that scattered the walls and flooring.

And if there was one thing Kaneki knew for sure it was that Rize wasn't here.

He didn't know if Aogiri managed to take the woman or not, but…

Kaneki then placed his hand unto the blood that stained his home. It was slightly still warm and moist, and that was all he needed to know that whoever came here for Rize wasn't too far away from him.

He then tasted the red liquid and a sweet flavor immediately coated his taste buds.

Kaneki stood up, placing his mask on, now knowing the culprits responsible for invading his home. There weren't many ghouls that possessed this eccentric flavor, only certain few ghouls had this taste.

Kaneki walked towards his broken balcony, placing his concern and worry on how he would cover up the damage at the back of his mind and studied the streets below.

A car was left on the middle of the road, with a large dent evident on its hood. The most alarming view down below however was the dead body that lay on a pool of its own blood, the body belonged to a rather large man who had a large hole through his chest.

The scene also made it impossible for Kaneki to pass through the streets without being noticed as sirens echoed against the streets, as a few CCG investigators were already on the crime scene, and without a doubt it won't take them long to begin their man hunt for whoever was responsible.

Kaneki left the balcony, not wanting to be noticed below. With his experience being a dove himself, he had a hunch that Rize managed to escape, and had caused the commotion down below.

And knowing how cornered she currently was… There was only one place she could go.

"Well well." Kaneki heard a voice from behind him. "If it isn't the infamous Eyepatch."

Kaneki turned around and readied his hand on Izuki. A familiar white figure stood between him and his door, the menacing red mask was all he needed to know who he was.

"Tatara."

Tatara raised an eyebrow at Kaneki. "Ho Ho… I'm surprised you know who I am. I guess much is expected from someone like you."

Immediately red sparks lit up the dark room as Izuki appeared in Kaneki's right hand, pointed dangerously towards the Aogiri executive.

"Get out of my way." Kaneki threatened, his left eye flared as his lone kakugan activated.

"You know, It's rare to hear about ghouls who use Quinques." Tatara then cracked his neck to the side, as he gave Kaneki a threatening look. "Then again you're not a normal ghoul after all."

"Last chance." Kaneki said as he readied Izuki to strike.

"You'd make quite an interesting and useful addition to Aogiri." Tatara closed his eyes and two glowing red pupils glared right at Kaneki's own as his kakugan activated. "Then again I'll just have to see what the boss has in mind for you after I bring you with me, in pieces if I have to."

Kaneki's grip on Izuki tightened as a large single glowing crimson kagune instantaneously appeared behind Tatara's back.

* * *

(Rize POV)

Rize panted heavily as she leaned against the railings of the riverside.

She was just barely able to recover from her last encounter, and as the adrenaline began to die down once more, the pain lingering on every inch of her body began to slow her down even more.

What was worse was that Rize was only half way there, and it wasn't long before the twins would manage to catch up to her.

Realizing she had no other option Rize decided that she would fight the twins right here, because if she was going to die.

She was going to die fighting.

"Guess she ran out of juice." Rize turned towards her back and found Nashiro standing a few meters away from her. "I'm honestly surprised she was able to last this long."

Thunder roared the sky as rain started to fall. "Papa never said we had to bring her back in one piece." Rize turned towards her back once again and found Kurona standing behind her, seemingly fully recovered from the injuries she gave her.

Rize grit her teeth realizing she was surrounded. She didn't know if she could conjure any more kagunes without fainting, with how low she was at the moment.

She was truly brought into a corner now, like an animal being forced back into its cage. Rize readied her stance to fight, tiredly raising her arms as she caught her breath, preparing herself for the twin's attack.

"She thinks she can fight without a kagune." Kurona spoke in mockery.

Nashiro laughed from behind her. "Shall we teach her a painful lesson sister?"

Rize braced herself when suddenly footsteps echoed against the pavement as she felt a new presence make its way towards them.

When she turned around she found a hooded figure crouched from beneath. The figure seemed to come from a woman.

"Now now everyone." The figure then began to rise up from the ground cracking her knuckles as she did so. "I don't know what ward you come from but we don't tolerate brawl outs like this here in the 20th ward."

The figured then tilted it's head to the side, revealing a pink rabbit mask that was hidden behind the figure's dark hood.

"Right Rize?"

* * *

 _ **Hello everyone, I know it's a little late but well shit happens and it slows you down sometimes so I really apologize for that and this delay. With things that have been happening, I barely managed to have any time to write this chapter so I really appreciate the kind reviews some of you gave me regarding the update time.**_

 ** _And remember when I said that this chapter was going to be half of the previous one? Well I decided to fix up and rewrite this and suddenly it got this long and now... Well lets say this chapter was supposed to be twice as long as it was now._**

 ** _And I'll be damned, Tokyo Ghoul is officially over(Manga wise), it was honestly like reading an obituary. I'm quite dissapointed with how rushed the ending was but, well as a fan I might as well just support it to my best, so I'll see if I can make a more fulfilling ending towards the end of this fic which will be in quite a long time._**

 ** _And cheer up everyone, new season comes out on winter! Though let's hope it doesn't well... suck xD_**

 ** _Thank you to everyone who's support this fic until now. You guys are the best! Please continue to do so and keep giving me some ideas! It's not like I got the entire story planned out through and through, so don't be afraid to hit me up! I respond when I can._**

 ** _Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui_**

 ** _P.S Guys cut the guy a break with all your hate tweets already, don't forget he still gave us a near masterpiece, and manga endings aren't always the best anyways._**


	16. Chapter 16: Butterfly

Sirens wailed the streets of the 20th ward as tires were screeched to a halt.

Doors consecutively clicked open as three men dressed in recognizable suits stepped outside of the vehicle, taking hurried steps as red and blue lights bounced on the wet pavement below them.

The three men walked towards the gathered crowd, observing the policemen going about their duties whilst setting up caution tapes for people to keep off the scene of the crime.

As the three walked towards the scene, one of the officers approached them, demanding them for identification, seemingly recognizing their uniform clothing.

A badge was pulled out from a side pocket and displayed towards the questioning officer. "Special Class Yukinori Shinohara." Shinohara said as he tilted his head to the side, getting a brief glimpse of the sprawled out body on the ground. "I'm here to investigate a possible case of a ghoul related incident."

The officer gaped at the man before him, quietly nodding as he stepped to the side letting them through. They then stepped over the lines, getting looks from the officers at their job before returning to their task at hand.

They stopped directly in front of the victim's body, their soles carefully avoiding the small pool of blood that rested beneath the dead man's body.

"Pierced chest and the victim's heart seems to have been violently ripped out from the body." Kousake voiced out from behind him as then began to observe the dented hood of the car behind the victim. "Seems like the car was forcibly put to a stop and the victim was dragged out of it."

"Then it really is a ghoul attack." He then heard Takizawa say as he looked towards his superiors. "And I don't think any normal human could kill someone in such a manner."

"Wrong." Shinohara spoke up causing his subordinates to look at him in question.

"What?" Takizawa spoke up.

"You're right, this is obviously a ghoul attack but…" He then motioned towards the open car door. "Notice how the only damage on the car is the front? And how the street has tire marks on it? I'd say the victim was driving too fast before whoever did this to him collided with the vehicle causing him to step out and thus this."

"But why would a ghoul attack someone out like this in the open? Especially in the 20th ward?" Kousuke asked this time.

"The 20th ward has been increasingly getting more and more dangerous ever since the incident with the Binge Eater and the Eyepatch ghoul." Shinohara rubbed his chin as a conclusion formed in his mind. "It is odd if you ask me. Perhaps the ghoul was in a hurry, or perhaps this was an attack by Aogiri, or even more so…"

"The Binge Eater?" Kousuke finished his sentence.

"Yes." Shinohara nodded at his subordinate. "In the 20th ward, the Binge Eater was the boldest and most daring among the few ghoul attacks in recent history."

Shinohara then narrowed his eyes as he noticed a particular detail on the street. It was hard, especially with the rain washing out the streets as of the moment, but as he walked towards the sidewalk, he noticed a rather faint tinge of red.

He then grazed the ground with his finger, and easy enough, a red smudge painted his skin, a red smudge that looked awfully similar to blood.

His head then looked from the body, to his current location, and noticed that a small trail made its way towards the alleyway.

"It seems that whoever is responsible for this." He then rubbed his two fingers on the smudge as it began to spread on his skin. "Isn't too far away."

Shinohara then looked towards the older of the two subordinates. "Yousuke." He called out. "Set up a perimeter around our location. We have a ghoul to track down."

* * *

(Touka POV)

Touka ran, blitzing past the streets of the 20th ward.

Her ragged breathing synced itself with the panic of her own heartbeat, uncaring of the downpour of rain that soaked her body from head to toe.

Touka sprinted, making quick progress to her destination with the few minutes that she's been running, ignoring the fatigue that slowly built its way towards her legs and her lungs.

She vented out her frustrations with every single step she took, gradually going faster from time to time as she thought about how much she wanted to hand Kaneki's ass over him for getting himself in such a shitty situation.

She felt the adrenaline kick in especially, whenever she remembered how much Kaneki's been playing hero lately. It pissed her off so much whenever he thought and acted like he could save everyone's ass.

She didn't care if he used to live as a human, that way of thinking would get himself killed one day in the ghoul world.

Touka didn't know why she expressed so much concern and gave so many shits about Kaneki's wellbeing but…

Perhaps she couldn't deny that she was acting on impulse because she was worried.

She heard sirens echo the streets and Touka immediately hid behind the space between two buildings, not wanting to be caught suspicious by whatever passed her by.

She calmly waited and stood there patiently, as several police cars rushed their way across the street.

"Doves…?" She said to herself. "Why would they…"

Touka's eyes suddenly widened as a sense of worry flashed through her mind. Realizing the streets where better yet unsafe for her, Touka jumped from one corner of the alley to another quickly making her way to the rooftop of one of the buildings.

Touka caught her breath, feeling the fatigue begin to wear her down. She leaned against the building's railings, recovering her strength before continuing her pursuit.

She jumped from building to building, doing her best to avoid the streets as more sirens wailed through them. She was beginning to find it difficult as the gaps between buildings became wider and wider, but that didn't stop her as she pressed forward, determined to reach her destination.

It didn't take her long before she reached the riverside, knowing she had to get down to the streets since gap was too wide for her to jump.

Before she could head down however, she was stopped as a figure suddenly made its way to the riverside, forcing Touka to take a few step backs, hiding herself from plain sight.

She knelt down and observed the figure. Touka then realized that it was a woman with long, who grasped the railings tight, seemingly tired and exhausted, as if she was being chased by someone.

As she looked in closer she found that the woman had several wounds around her body. Her arm seemed to be full of scratches, her shirt had several deep bloodstains on it, and overall she was surprised the woman was still alive, let alone able to run.

Then suddenly two more figures stepped down, surrounding the woman. The two figures wore very distinct and contrasting masks which seemed to go in uniform with their contrasting clothes.

They seemed to be conversing with the woman. Touka then stepped down from the rooftop, and quickly made her way closer to the three, trying to get a grasp of whatever was going on.

She leaned forward, getting a small view of whoever the three figures were. As soon as her eye peeked out, a look of surprise etched its way to her face as she couldn't believe who she was seeing.

Rize… scarred, wounded, and battered, stood there with an exhausted look on her face as she glared at her two assailants.

She really was alive just like Kaneki said but...

Why was she here? Wasn't Kaneki looking for her? Where was Kaneki now?

So many questions lingered on Touka's mind and it pissed her off even more so knowing she couldn't understand the situation. And to add to the list of thing she was going to do the next time she saw Kaneki, she was for sure as hell going to beat some information out of his ass too.

With everything that Kaneki's told her, that must mean that the two assailants were probably from Aogiri. Normally Touka would want nothing to do with the infamous Binge Eater but Kaneki did… And even if she did it didn't matter since she came all this way to help the idiot anyways.

Touka took out her mask and placed it over her head, hiding away all but her lavender hair.

She felt the rush in her veins as her kakugan flared to life as she began to make her way towards Rize and her two assailants.

Touka sprang into the air as she landed right behind Rize, bringing in a jolt of surprise from everyone around her.

"Now now everyone…" Touka slowly rose up, cracking her knuckles as she did so. "I don't know what ward you come from but we don't tolerate brawl outs like this here in the 20th ward."

Touka then looked behind her, briefly catching the look of both shock and relief from Rize's face as she did so.

"Right Rize?"

"Who are you!?" Touka turned back to the assailants. This one the one wearing a black mask. "Don't interfere with us or we promise you…"

The figure then went into a fighting stance as an all too familiar lone crimson kagune sprouted from her back.

Touka was taken aback. "That kagune…" She said in surprise. "It's just like Kaneki's."

"Don't you mean like mine?" Rize said causing her to turn towards her.

"Yours?!"

Rize narrowed her eyes at their two opponents. "They're half-ghouls just like Kaneki, my kakuhou was transplanted into them just like him."

Touka's eyes widened as she looked back at the black and white clad ghouls surrounding them. "Half-ghouls…"

"Yeah, that means they aren't to be taken lightly." Rize commented as if understanding what Touka was thinking.

"Where the hell is Kaneki anyways?!" Touka said as she stepped into a fighting stance.

Rize looked back towards Touka with a confused expression on her face. "I thought he was with you!?"

"Kaneki was on his way back to you!" Touka shot back.

Touka felt a deep sense of worry as she realized that Kaneki wasn't anywhere under the radar as of the moment. To make matters worse, Aogiri was currently in the 20th ward, and aside from that the doves are there too.

God knows what the idiot is going through right now.

"Nashiro-chan." The black clad ghoul spoke out. "It seems Onii-chan knows we're here."

"I suppose we better wrap this up quickly then Kuro-chan." The two Aogiri ghouls went into a crouch with their kagune's pointed dangerously towards them. "I'm sure Tatara-san and the rest are keeping him busy at the moment."

A sense of dread made its way to Touka as her fears were confirmed. And it had to be Tatara of all people, she's heard rumors about the Chinese ghoul and they weren't pretty.

Right now all she could do was hold faith in Kaneki's strength. She knew he was strong, she's seen it herself. She had faith in him.

A fire-like wing spawned out of Touka's back, and like flames it danced into the air as Kurona and Nashiro launched themselves right into Touka and Rize.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

With all the ghouls and doves that Kaneki's faced, not once has he faced someone like Tatara. For a short period of his life, right after what he endured with Jason, he was once arrogant and overconfident with his abilities as a half-ghoul. Needless to say, he still wouldn't want to pick a fight with the infamous Chinese ghoul right before him.

Tatara was infamous for a reason. The ghoul was known to be extremely dangerous, a merciless ghoul who was known for the path of destruction he would always leave by his wake. Tatara's kagune was unknown to most, but it was clear that it wasn't something to be taken lightly.

And right now, said ghoul was right in front of him, ready to tear him and his home to pieces.

Tatara's kagune moved and Kaneki's body responded almost in sync. Sparks flew around Kaneki as he parried each strike with his own, taking full advantage of the limited space they had in his living room.

Tatara, realizing the ineffectiveness of his attack on Kaneki, decided to switch his tactics a bit and began to focus more on the power behind each strike, with Kaneki beginning to struggle against the weight of Tatara's attack.

As Kaneki began to find himself being pushed back, an idea came into mind and as Tatara landed another heavy blow on Kaneki, instead of simply blocking the attack, Kaneki then pierced Tatara's kagune right through with izuki, extending the quinque causing it to rip a good chunk out of the kagune.

Kaneki didn't just stop there however, he stretched Izuki to its limit, bringing the quinque down at Tatara like a whip as it dug itself right to where the white clad ghoul stood.

But Tatara was faster than Kaneki expected, taking full advantage of his weapon's vulnerable position and lunging straight at Kaneki, leaving a red misty trail behind him as his kagune dissipated, landing a few blows to his chest, forcing Kaneki to disarm himself and switching into defense in order to block Tatara's barrage.

Tatara continued his assault but as Kaneki saw an opening, the ghoul was flipped over but stopped himself as he spawned his kagune forcing Kaneki to cartwheel backwards, grabbing his quinque as he landed, to prevent his gut from being pierced through by the Tatara's tail.

Kaneki didn't want to waste any more time than he already has, hastily charging at Tatara with his assault forcing the ghoul to block and dodge from Kaneki's attack. Seeing no reason to continue the fight, Kaneki extended Izuki as he spun around, catching Tatara by surprise as the ghoul leaned backwards to his limit in order to avoid being sliced into two. As the ghoul recovered moving into a stance, Kaneki spun around once more, giving Tatara a hard kick to the face, launching him crashing into the wall.

Kaneki didn't think twice about heading straight towards the door. He couldn't afford to waste any more time than he already has, and he was smart enough to know that Tatara was just a distraction, keeping him away from god knows where Rize was.

He hastily ran through the flight of stairs leading to the fire exit on the rooftop, he had to be careful not to garner the attention of the CCG. Even though his original plan was to basically paint himself a target for the doves, Rize was in danger, and for the worst part, she doesn't seem well capable enough to use her kagune.

As the fire exit slammed open, Kaneki came across the clearing of the rooftop. It was empty, but that didn't do well for him to drop his guard. He knew Tatara was cunning and calculative, and his attack merely managed to stall time for him, it wasn't enough to stop Tatara from continuing his pursuit.

Still, the sense of panicked worry clouded Kaneki's judgement as he decided to try and look for wherever Rize was despite having Tatara hot on his tail.

Kaneki only made it ten meters from the door before he was forced to the side as Tatara's kagune slammed right at the ground where he was standing.

"I might say I'm a little disappointed Kaneki." Kaneki glared straight into Tatara's piercing gaze as he slowly picked himself up. "I never thought of you as a coward… I guess I was wrong."

"Don't take me for a fool to not see past your distraction Tatara-san" Kaneki took out his mask from his pocket, and as he slipped it on his face, he felt the rush in his veins as he activated his lone kakugan. "Too much pride will get you killed… Just like your brothers."

The reaction was instant. The calm composure Tatara exerted lost itself as his kagune wildly swung itself right at Kaneki. Kaneki took a leap backwards, distancing himself from Tatara's range as steam started form from Tatara's kagune.

"You're going to regret saying that, _human_ trash." Tatara then began his assault, not holding back an inch as he rushed at Kaneki in a heap of rage.

Kaneki, dodged left, right, and backwards as he avoided Tatara's barrage. Being in the CCG gave him insight on the background of the known ghouls of Aogiri tree. He was well aware of Tatara's shaky history with Kousuke Houji, a ghoul investigator responsible for the elimination of the Chinese ghoul organization, the Chie She Lan.

It helped that the last surviving member of the clan happened to have a deep hatred and was rather touchy on the subject, a subject which Kaneki exploited right now, as he made Tatara aggressively chase after him, as they moved along the rooftops of the 20th ward.

"Stop running away!" The Chinese ghoul screamed as Kaneki brought himself right at a ledge that led to an empty construction site. Tatara stood a few feet away from him, his body practically steaming to the point that his kagune began to glow. "No more running now Kaneki!"

Kaneki launched himself into the air, falling to the ground several stories below him, as he avoided Tatara's attack that took a chunk out of the ledge he previously stood on.

Kaneki landed in a crash as dust exploded from the impact. Electricity crackled as Kaneki swung Izuki into the air with enough pressure to blow away the dust surrounding him. And as the dust settled, Kaneki found Tatara, only meters away from him, his body surrounded by an intense output of steam.

Tatara's abilities were unique to say the least. Much like how the Kirishima's possessed a rather special ability with their kagune, being able to produce electricity using the heat produced by their intense RC cells. Tatara's kagune uses a similar concept with the difference being that his kagune literally produces flames hot enough to melt steel.

That really made the name Tatara all the more fearsome as it literally meant furnace.

"I'm going to burn you to a crisp…" Tatara threatened, his kagune now on fire as it began to spread around his body, covering his face, his arms, and his back with his fiery kagune until a long spiked tail formed as Tatara's kakuja formed. " **Kaneki-kun!"**

Kaneki watched the transformation in amazement as he's never seen anything like it before. It truly looked demonic to say the least. But despite the radiating power Tatara emanated, his kakuja was incomplete, merely a half-kakuja when compared to what it was in the future. A true force to be reckoned with.

Suddenly, Tatara moved, launching himself into the air, and before Kaneki could react in time a flaming kagune pierced through the air, bringing itself to where he stood. Kaneki stepped to the side barely preventing himself from being barbecued but was suddenly knocked backwards as Tatara rappelled himself to Kaneki with the kagune.

Kaneki skid against the wet ground before using his kagune to bring him back to his feet. He clutched his side, feeling a few broken ribs from where Tatara hit him.

 **"Kaneki!"** Tatara's steaming, flaming form turned to face him. **"I'm going to roast you alive!"**

Tatara was right on him in an instant, Kaneki could only barely react fast enough as he bent his body backwards dodging the flaming tail that would have no doubt ended him. He then used his kagune to spring him backwards, distancing himself from Tatara.

Kaneki gripped Izuki with frustration. He could only play cat and mouse for so long. Rize was in danger, and he couldn't even get near Tatara as the flames around him were too intense. He couldn't keep playing the defensive otherwise he would just be wasting his time.

Kaneki's kagune wrapped itself around a steel beam and with all his might, he twisted his body and threw the heavy piece of metal straight towards Tatara.

Tatara responded right in Kaneki's expectations. Before the beam could hit him, he used his blazing kagune to rebounded it to side leaving the metal in a deformed state.

Kaneki didn't waste this opportunity as he launched himself high into the air as he dove his kagune straight into the ground where Tatara stood keeping a safe distance from the heat the ghoul emanated. Tatara leapt backwards as he saw this coming but Kaneki didn't stop, as he landed he buried his kagune further into the ground, breaking through the soil as it released itself from the ground impaling Tatara as it did so.

Tatara screamed in pain recoiling his head back as the crimson kagune embedded itself straight through his chest. Kaneki thought he won then and there until he noticed the RC cells around Tatara seemed to shift and spread more through his body.

"No…" Kaneki breathed out as Tatara's kagune reinforced hand snapped the kagune impaled through his chest bringing it out of his body as his own blood was incarcerated by the fury of flames surrounding his body.

Kaneki watched in shock as the flames around Tatara's body began to disperse and condense right at his head, making him look like a demon even more so.

A torrent of flames shot out from Tatara's head too fast for Kaneki to dodge as he used his kagune to his best to shield the fire from burning him alive. This served to barely work as his kagune started to get incinerated by the flames and the heat was starting to burn of his skin.

As the torrent of flames stopped it left Kaneki with second degree burns on his skin, and his kagune charred black, brittle enough to break with just a touch. He suddenly felt a kick straight to his chest knocking the air out of him as he was brought to the ground and in an instant Kaneki felt a hand wrap around his neck bringing him off the ground.

Tatara looked like a monster as he began to choke the life out of Kaneki. **"I might say you're quite the disappointment. I didn't expect you to be this weak."** Fire then began to build its way to Tatara's head and Kaneki barely struggled to break free as he knew what was coming next. **"I'll just have to burn your head from your shoulders and find out what you are from your remains!"**

Time slowed down as Kaneki watched the flames make their way towards him.

* * *

(Rize POV)

Rize couldn't deny the brief moment of awe she felt at the sight of the Rabbit's kagune that flickered like a flame. Then the flame froze itself, locked in a moment as it crystallized and sent shards upon shards of itself straight towards the twins.

That kagune only belonged to one person. There was no one else with a recognizable kagune much like it other than the Kirishima siblings.

Amongst every ghoul in Tokyo, Kirishima Touka was the one person Rize didn't expect to come and help her.

Upon the few encounters they've ever had, the two ghouls hid a scowl beneath their smiling faces and both shared a mutual dislike for each other.

But now here she was, saved at the last second by the one ghoul she least expected. Perhaps it was due to her affiliation with Anteiku and Kaneki, but nonetheless it served well to surprise her.

The twins then separated, running parallel to each other as they dodged the projectiles making their way towards them. This proved difficult for Touka as she focused her attack on one of the twins losing her sight of the other.

"Behind you!" Rize screamed as the black-clad twin readied to impale her kagune straight through Touka.

Touka quickly looked behind her and noticed this, and quickly, yet awkwardly leapt herself backwards causing her to roll through the ground before she landed next to Rize.

"That was a close one." Touka muttered under her breath picking herself up from the ground as she did so.

"Your fighting style won't work on them." Rize said bringing Touka's attention to her. "You fight focused on one opponent. That won't work on these two, they fight in sync with each other."

Rize swore she could see the angry glare Touka gave her. "And what do you suppose we do? It's not like you're in much of a shape to fight."

Rize wiped the blood from her lip and readied herself in a fighting stance. "You underestimate me too much Kirishima."

Touka shook her head. "I can't believe I'm actually fighting with you Binge Eater."

"If it weren't for my weakened state I wouldn't need your help at all Rabbit." Rize retorted.

"I take white you take black?" Touka asked.

Rize responded by bringing herself to a sprint, rapidly changing directions as she did so, catching Kurona in surprise as she drove a fist straight through Kurona's gut.

She didn't stop there however, she quickly brought several jabs right at Kurona's chest and finished her off with a heavy kick straight to where she punched her launching her a few feet away from Rize.

Nashiro was ready to split Rize's head off her shoulders but she was interrupted as shards of projectiles made their way towards her causing her to distance herself from Rize.

"I'm your opponent." Touka said as she rushed straight towards Nashiro, her kagune crystalizing as she clashed with Nashiro's own.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

Flames roared past Kaneki, his kagune wrapped around Tatara's neck forcing him to look up as the torrent that came from him burned the air inches above him.

Without wasting a moment Kaneki flipped the switch and Izuki extended. He swung with the intent of cleaving Tatara in half when he was suddenly thrown meters away from Tatara, as he rolled through the ground.

Kaneki breathed rapidly, clutching his sore neck. He almost died right there, he nearly got killed for his hubris, thinking he can rush his way past Tatara.

He was charred and beaten, healing slower than the usual as Tatara's attacks literally burned through him. He picked himself up, eyeing the approaching threat. Tatara had yet to suffer any major damage as the hole in his chest seemingly patched itself up.

Tatara was strong, and in his current state he was terrifying. There was no way in hell that he could beat him the way he was right now. Tatara overpowered him, and unless he did the same, there was no way he was getting out of this, there was no way he could make it to Rize in time.

He had no choice.

He only hoped he could control himself this time.

Tatara blazed across the distance between them in a blink of an eye, sending a torrent of flames right towards Kaneki, leaving him no chance to dodge the impending attack.

Tatara's maddening laughter reverberated through the flames. **"BURN YOU HUMAN TRASH!"** He said with a cackle as he continued to scorch the earth before him.

He kept going, not bringing himself to a pause as he mercilessly sent out flames right at Kaneki. Logic seemingly escaped from the calculative ghoul as he spiraled into a maddening rage.

The flames only stopped when Tatara panted in exhaustion, seemingly spent all his energy on his attack as the flames around his head grew smaller.

He half expected a charred corpse to lie in the center of the flames but was surprised to find Kaneki intact and right behind a near jet black shield shaped out from his kagune.

 **"My turn."** Kaneki's voice echoed behind his kakuja mask. His ghoul mask wrapped around his neck, laying there as the crow-like mass of RC cells covered half his face.

Kaneki then charged forward and bashed his shield-kagune straight into Tatara's chest, barreling with enough force to launch him dozens of feet backwards.

Tatara crashed right at one of the cabins for the construction site, his large mass tearing through the place as it collapsed right over him.

Kaneki was surprised as he felt more self-control in his half kakuja state. The vines of near black RC cells wrapped around the left side of his body in a wild mass as it formed a shield large enough to shield his entire body.

 **"KANEKI!"** Tatara screamed as the debris surrounding him began to set on fire. The flames around him seemingly rekindled with his fury as he began to charge straight towards him.

Kaneki gripped Izuki on his right hand, the condensed RC cells slowly spreading throughout his body as it grew with his fury. **"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"** He screamed as he charged towards the burning monster headed straight for him.

The two powerful kakujas met each other with great force. Kaneki using his kagune to absorb most of the blow, as more flames shot out of Tatara.

Screams escaped from Tatara's mouth as Kaneki danced around him, slicing through Tatara relentlessly, Izuki glowing red from the heat Tatara emanated as it met the ghoul's flesh with each stroke.

With a scream of fury, Kaneki bashed his kagune right at Tatara's head with enough force to break his kakuja reinforced kagune along with Tatara's.

The flames died out as Tatara's face appeared through the cracked armor and Kaneki brought his left arm back and gave the Aogiri executive a left hook with enough force to bring him to the ground.

As the SS rated ghoul tried to pick himself up, Kaneki drove Izuki straight through Tatara's kagune-tail, making him scream in pain as he tore the tail straight from him.

The mass of RC cells around Kaneki and Tatara dissipated into the air, leaving them back in a normal state, and Kaneki walked towards Tatara's head, stepping right at it, and piercing his quinque dangerously close to his head.

"Remember this." Kaneki said threateningly. "The next time we meet I won't be so merciful."

Tatara remained silent for a moment until slow chuckles started to form from him.

Kaneki then glared at the ghoul. "What's so funny."

"I'm sure you're well aware-" He paused as his chuckles turned into maddening laughter. "- I've wasted more than enough of your time and I'm sure the twins would have taken care of her by now."

Kaneki's heart froze. The twins… He half expected Ayato and Jason to show up but…

He quickly turned around. Lifting his quinque from the ground and left Tatara where he lay. The ghoul was too injured for him to be sure to move, so he didn't have to worry about him for now.

He swore under his breath at the unexpected variables that he should've seen coming as he shifted to a bolt with a heavy heart hoping that Rize was still here.

* * *

(Touka POV)

Touka leapt backwards, twirling through the air as she rained dozens upon dozens of projectiles at the white-clad ghoul. Said ghoul used her kagune to spring herself into the air as she dodged the hailstorm that would have no doubt killed her.

Nashiro then tucked her legs as she went into a twirl, slamming her lone kagune right where Touka stood causing the ground to break on impact. As the dust settled, Nashiro found Touka in the air a leg raised as she spun her body ready to bring a kick right through her head.

Nashiro bent her body backwards, and with the flexibility of a cat, she cartwheeled herself slamming her heels right at Touka's chin knocking her back.

The white-clad ghoul then dove her kagune like a spear ready to decapitate Touka, only for her Kagune to split in two as the crimson appendage went straight through Touka's kagune right on time for her to crystallize it splitting it in two.

"Bring it bitch." Touka said as her kagune broke into thousands of shards as she lunged forward with her fists raised ready to strike the white-clad twin.

Nashiro caught the fist, retaliating with her own and the two she-ghouls switched into a deadly dance of hand-to-hand combat, trying to overpower each other through deadly cunning skill.

Touka had to admit, the white bitch was good, no doubt had some training, making her a deadly person to fight. She was struggling, able to land a few blows on her as well as taking some herself.

Touka then fainted a hook aimed for her opponents face to which she readied to blow only for Touka to come to a spin landing a kick straight to her gut knocking her backwards on to the ground.

She felt a familiar tug from her upper back as her kagune lit up like a flame and crystallized itself, sending a barrage of crystals right towards her downed opponent with the intent of finishing her off.

It was then she heard a scream coming from Rize's opponent. Touka's eyes widened as she saw the black-clad twin standing in front of her opponent with her arms crossed taking the blow of her attack.

Shards imbedded itself around her kagune which she used to protect her supposed twin, and many more found itself around her body. And without a doubt, Touka knew she would be dead by now if it weren't for her lone kagune.

"Kurona-" She heard the white-clad she-ghoul say from behind the other.

Nashiro quickly picked herself up, crawling her way to her sister catching her before she fell to the ground, holding her close to her arms. Touka saw her hands were shaking, and she could have sworn tears leaked out from behind her mask.

She watched as Kurona took out her mask and from there Touka could see the lone human eye that the girl had…

The twins… They were just around her age. They were just like Kaneki. They were victims, and suddenly Touka saw the humanity that both girls showed for each other. She hated it…

She envied it…

Touka clenched her fist as she saw how the two supposed twins cradled each other. Seemingly forgetting their presence, forgetting the threat that laid before them.

"Nashiro…" Touka heard the bleeding half-ghoul say. Reaching her hand out to touch her face from beneath the mask that hid her sister. "Run… you can still get out if this…"

"I won't leave you!" Nashiro cried out, seemingly holding her sister close to her arms. "You're the only family I have left… I can't lose you too."

Touka didn't know what to do. Here laid an underlying threat to them just a few moments ago. These two were ready to kill them, and now they lay there vulnerable. She could end it right now. End these two and find Kaneki and get the answers she wanted.

But she didn't know why she couldn't.

"Touka!" Rize's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "What are you waiting for!?"

Touka then looked at Rize and noticed her beaten up form. She was currently clutching her right arm, and aside from the other injuries she had around her body, she looked no worse for wear.

She briefly wondered where Rize learned to fight like that. To be able to stand toe-to-toe with one of these twins in her weakened state was outstanding to say the least.

Touka bit her lip, not knowing what to say. She knew she probably wouldn't have the same chance again and only moments earlier she was just about ready to kill one of these girls. And yet now, upon seeing some humanity between the two was she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

She cursed her softness. She blamed herself for it… No… She blamed Kaneki for it.

"Touka!" Rize called out for her again. Awaiting her response, seemingly trying to snap her from her thoughts.

She eyed the twins and right there she saw a hint of fear rush through Kurona's eyes. Nashiro reactivated her kagune and wrapped it around her sister protectively.

"I know just-" Touka clenched her fists, not knowing what to do. "-we just have to wait for Kaneki! Maybe he needs them alive!" She argued.

"Cut the crap Touka!" Rize screamed in outburst. "There's more of them coming! We're just wasting our time!"

"She's right you know." Touka heard a voice that made her heart freeze.

No… It couldn't be. Touka hesitantly turned her head, heart wretched with eyes, as she anxiously turned her head to the source of the voice.

"What are you waiting for Aneki."

"Ayato!" Touka said in surprise as she saw her brother stand there with a smug look on his face. He stood right next to a large man dressed in a white coat and had blonde hair.

Ayato leapt into the air landing right next to his sister. "Don't tell me you've grown soft." He said as he glared at her, eyes filled with spite as he waited for her response.

Touka stood there speechless. Much too shocked to say anything to him. Her hands shook, unsure of what to do, unsure of what to say.

Ayato then took out his hands from his pockets and his kakugan activated. "Well answer me!" He screamed in anger, his eyes only shining with hate as she looked at them. He then turned towards the twins and Touka's eyes widened in surprise as his kagune activated, revealing two flickering kagune similar to her own. "I guess I'll just have to kill them for you! Maybe then you'd talk!"

"No!" Touka screamed as Ayato send a barrage of crystals right towards the twins. Before she knew it she found herself standing between them, her own kagune activated, blocking the shards from hitting the twins.

This seemed to infuriate her brother even more as he leapt straight towards her swinging his own kagune, breaking her guard knocking her to the ground.

"Ayato-" Before she could say anything, she felt the wind get knocked from her as Ayato kicked her straight to the gut, causing her to clutch her stomach in pain.

"You've really grown weak!" He screamed as he landed another kick. "You're just like dad!" He kicked her again. "You're trash! I hate-"

Before he could strike her again, Touka wrapped her hand around Ayato's leg, gripping it with such force that it nearly cracked his bone. She slowly looked up, blood trickled from her mouth, but a look of determination flickered in her eyes.

"Don't you ever talk about Dad that way." Touka said, bringing a look of surprise towards Ayato's face as she spun around ignoring the pain in her ribs as she drove a heavy punch straight to Ayato's gut.

Ayato flew back a few feet from the force of the impact, skidding on his feet against the ground as he tried to take back the air knocked out from him.

Touka dropped to the ground in pain as that attack took everything from her. She fell to the ground, dropping to a knee as she spat out blood from her mouth.

She looked around her and noticed Rize had the light taken out from her as she was pinned to the ground by Ayato's companion.

They were in a real shitty situation, and it pissed her off. She didn't know what pissed her off more, the fact that Ayato joined Aogiri or the fact that Kaneki got them involved in this mess to begin with.

"Kaneki…" Touka whispered to herself. "Where the fuck are you!"

Suddenly the ground exploded as a near black kagune imbedded itself straight through Ayato's companion, knocking him off Rize.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Touka looked backwards and a small tear fell down her cheek as a sense of relief washed over her.

"K-Kaneki." Touka cried out as darkness took over her.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

Kaneki stood there, deep rooted anger burned through his body as he stood there, looking at the bloodied and beaten forms of Touka and Rize.

He clenched his fists in anger, blaming himself for their current state. He couldn't believe he let this happen to them. Rize was under his watch and he let himself get reckless.

He was the only person to blame for this.

His kagune dispersed into the air, Yamori knocked off Rize as he stabbed a hole through the madman's gut.

Seeing him again brought about painful memories, and a part of him blamed the man for becoming the person he became.

Yamori recovered quickly, the hole on his chest started to patched itself up, and Kaneki expected it. The monster was a rinkaku type after all, his healing factor was abnormal even for a ghoul.

Kaneki didn't know why he didn't react with more anger than he should have. Right before him stood the man who ruined his life, and right here and then he was given a chance to end him before he could hurt anybody else.

Suddenly hatred etched from his heart as he looked at the bloody and beaten forms of Rize and Touka, and before he knew it, he screamed in anger and ran straight towards the recovering Yamori.

Electricity crackled as Izuki was brought to life, and quickly blood sprayed as several cuts were found around Yamori's body with such speed that would have made Arima proud. Yamori tried to retaliate as his kagune spawned, only for it to be cut into pieces as Kaneki continued his assault, not leaving any room for the man to recover as he mutilated him.

His eyes grew red in fury, he remembered his fingers being cut endlessly, the numbers he was forced to say backwards, the centipede crawling in his ears. He remembered as he watched this man beat Touka, and that was all it took for him to snap.

Yamori dropped to his knees, bleeding excessively from all the cuts Kaneki gave him, and just before he was about to end him he heard something that made him froze.

"Stop." He snapped back into reality as he stared towards the source of the voice. Towards Ayato holding the unconscious Touka hostage, his kagune flaring, ready to strike through his sister at any moment.

"You wouldn't." Kaneki said coldly. Knowing Ayato's true intentions, knowing that he could never truly hurt his sister. "If you really didn't care about her then you wouldn't have brought CCG attention from your sister to yourself."

Ayato froze, his words obviously hitting him close to home. This only seemed to aggravate the teen as his demeanor shifted, more fury etched his expression. "Don't you fucking talk like you know anything about me!"

But before Kaneki could respond he felt something cut through him.

Kaneki looked behind him in shock to find Kousuke Houji, his quinque activated, and suddenly more projectiles shot out from his quinque and he was force to leap backwards, dodging the barrage before more could hit him.

Kaneki clenched his teeth as he saw that Kousuke wasn't alone, he was with Shinohara and Takizawa.

"A ghoul wielding a quinque." Kousuke said in disgust. "I'll be sure to give that back to where it belongs once I take it off your corpse."

This was bad. Kaneki now not only had Aogiri to worry about but the CCG. And to make matters worse Shinohara was his opponent. He had just recently spent up most of his energy against Tatara, and the only reason he survived his encounter with the man the first time was because he had shifted into his kakuja state, even then he nearly lost his life in the process.

Kaneki quickly reached out for Touka and Rize but he was too late.

Tatara, broken and beaten as he is, suddenly drop to the ground and picked up the unconscious Rize from the ground, dragging her over his shoulder. His kagune activated shielding him from the barrage Takizawa sent him as he rushed to his companions. "Let's go!" the ghoul screamed.

And before Kaneki could chase after them shots were fired right at him forcing him to step back.

His surroundings went into chaos upon the CCG's arrival. Nashiro screamed as Kurona threw her away towards their Aogiri associates with her kagune, being dragged away by the beaten Jason, leaving her sister.

A few of the white suits appeared holding off the doves as they allowed the them to escape.

And Touka… Kaneki could only watch as Ayato dragged his sister, too weak to fight back, away. She was carried by him, seemingly collapsed due to exhaustion.

Kaneki wanted to reach out for her but from the corner of his eye he saw a glint of metal make its way to him. He took his eyes away from her fleeing form as it was met with Shinohara's.

He instinctively brought Izuki up to block the incoming attack and sparks flew as their quinques met. He heard Shinohara say something but the words didn't reach him, his mind wandering off to Touka, hoping that she wasn't too far out of reach but as he looked back to where she once was, she was gone.

Kaneki's heart fell and he felt a sharp sting across his chest. He clutched Izuki ignoring the pain in his chest from where Shinohara stroke him. He heard sirens wail out in the distance, ringing in his ears as despair took over him.

He… He did this… He allowed emotions to take over him and now… Touka was taken from him… Kanou had his hands on Rize again and all his effort was all for naught.

He felt the darkness in him grow. He wanted the maddening rage to take over him once more. To release it, and let these men feel his pain.

Shinohara stroked at him again and Kaneki stroke back, landing a few hits at the old man, losing any sympathy that he had, allowing himself to spiral into rage as he brought out his frustrations, his pain.

He felt shards imbed itself through him, knocking him backwards, away from the CCG veteran. Kaneki stood back up, readying himself to fight back once more when suddenly a cackle of thunder was heard and Shinohara was blasted backwards, away from him.

Kaneki felt his ears ring, and sanity seemed to crawl its way back to him.

He was suddenly aware of everything once more. He felt warm liquid around his body and realized that he was bleeding, he allowed himself to take more damage than he could, and he could feel the mass of RC cells crawl its way to his body readying to take over.

As he looked before him his eyes widened as he stared at the backs of Yomo, Irimi, and Koma, all in their ghoul masks, their kagunes glowing as they stood over him protectively.

He then looked around him and found Kurona nearly bleeding to death and he rushed to her side as the Anteiku's ghouls engaged into battle with the CCG.

The three veterans put up a fight with the CCG, taking down a large force of them as Yomo held off Shinohara. Kaneki could only watch with a heavy heart, knowing now that he was only to be blamed for the disaster that was soon to befall them for this. Yomo momentarily looked at him, and that was all Kaneki needed to know.

He quickly rushed to Kurona's side, carefully lifting her up bridal style as Yomo leapt to the air raining down another bolt towards Shinohara, and everyone else moved in sync, quickly fleeing from battle, taking full advantage of Yomo's distraction.

Kaneki fled with them. Holding an unconscious Kurona in his arms. Knowing fulll well of the damage he just caused.

He remembered everything he ever fought for, everything he willed to change taken from him. And right then he swore to himself that he would do whatever it took to make everything better.

But deep inside he knew, he was no different from what he used to be.

* * *

 _ **Hey there everyone it's been awhile, sorry for the lack of updates for nearly four months. I've been hella beat with college and I could hardly find any time to finish this chapter. So for that I apologize, especially for leaving things in the hanger as per usual hehe...**_

 _ **I'd like to thank you guys for waiting patiently(I hope) for the new chapter. And don't worry! I haven't abandoned it, hell I haven't even got to the good parts yet. But knowing that, expect late uploads, but I'll do my best to keep the story going, even when the anime ends.**_

 _ **And please don't be disheartened to continue the fic, cause I know some people tend to bail on a fic once things don't work out for the mc but I promise you that this was just my way for things to come off with a spin and for the story to progress to the Aogiri arc. Kaneki will just keep getting more badass from this point on.**_

 _ **With that I hope you enjoyed the chapter, this chapter might be updated as it is the longest I've written and there might be typos around the corner. Feel free to hit me up about that.**_

 _ **And holy shit. It's been a year and over since I started writing this. And I've only written 16 chapters! Well fuck. Thank you so much to everyone who's supported me from the very beginning, I swear guys without you this thing would've been on hiatus loooong ago, so I appreciate you guys so much.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui**_


	17. Chapter 17: One less Regret

Hospitals, no matter where you go always have this distinct smell to them. It was as if every inch and surface of this place was doused with ethanol.

Yet the scenery has been an all too familiar sight for Amon, being a visitor of the place ever since what would now be called 'The Rabbit Chase'.

He smiled back at one of the nurses as she greeted him, already becoming an all too familiar face in this place. It didn't take him long as he stopped right at his tracks, preparing himself for another entry to visit the man who he greatly renowned and respected.

However, he was much too distracted by his thoughts as he failed to notice the clicking of heels gradually approaching him from behind.

"Amon-kun." A voice called out to him from behind.

Amon turned around and was faced with Special Class Investigator Yukinori Shinohara. Immediately Amon collected his manners and gave a respectful bow to the CCG veteran.

Shinohara gave Amon a warm smile as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's no need for that Amon-kun, we're here as co-workers after all."

"My apologies…" Amon said in embarrassment. "You're here to visit him too?"

Shinohara nodded "How is he?" He asked with a look of concern on his face.

Amon hesitated, unsure of how what to tell him. "He's… He's been doing fine. The nurses tell me that he sometimes stares into the ceiling unresponsive, but whenever me or some other visitor visits, he seemed to be so optimistic."

Shinohara looked unsure for a moment before he walked towards the door. "Shall we?" He said as he opened the door and gestured Amon to follow.

Amon follows suit, gently closing the door after he enters. The place remained as he remembered it. There were various gifts from friends, family, and the like scattered about. Amon could swear that the room was close to smelling more like a garden with all the flowers coming in and about.

On the hospital bed lay Kureo Mado, his former partner, now seemingly retired as he became unable to return to service due to the injury in his spinal cord.

There were very subtle changes to his partner's appearance. The man's hair was longer and a small beard was starting to form on his face. Overall he looked a little better than he did weeks ago.

"Mado-san, Akira-chan, it's so good to see you!" Shinohara said warmly. The older man then gestured behind him. "Me and Amon bumped into eachother at the door."

Amon eyes shift from his former partner to the blonde woman that sat down by the food of the hospital bed. A faint tinge of pink made its way to his cheeks as he kept his eyes on her.

He watched as the woman then stood up and began to walk towards him. Stopping right in front of him.

"You must be Koutaru Amon, I've heard a lot about you." The woman then extended her arm out. "My name is Akira Mado Kureo Mado's daughter, it's nice to finally meet you."

Akira, although seemingly possessing a stern demeanor, gave him a faint smile as he reached for her hand and began to shake it.

"Koutaru Amon…" He said sheepishly, recognizing that her hands were slightly calloused despite being soft at the same time. "It's nice to meet you too."

"So how have you been doing Mado-san?" Shinohara asked.

Mado replied with a curt chuckle. "Ah well you know, I've been surviving despite not feeling my legs anymore."

"Tou-san!" Akira interjected with a hint of concern in her voice.

Mado waved it off. "Don't worry Akira, it's just an old man's dry humor." He then smiled and looked back towards Shinohara. "How about you Yuki-kun? Thought about retiring yet?"

The two veterans shared a laugh. "I'm not that old yet Kureo." The laughter died down and Shinohara took out a file from his bag and placed it on top of Mado's bed. "I actually ran into trouble lately and I was hoping that maybe you could help me out?"

"No problem." Mado then reached for the files and began to read it. "What's it abou-"

The words never left Mado's mouth as he froze up and a stern seriousness suddenly shrouded him.

Amon saw Akira's demeanor begin to shift as worry and concern started to overcome her. Such a reaction could only mean two things, and none of which indicated any good news.

"It's about Eyepatch."

As soon as those words left his mouth the room began to tense up. Amon was well aware of Mado's feelings towards the new enigma that appeared on the CCG's radar.

Every time the ghoul was mentioned, Mado's demeanor changed and whenever he asked what he felt about it he always seemed unsure. He knew that deep inside the man loathed Eyepatch for taking away his dream of taking out the one eyed owl and avenging his wife but at the same time… He knew that there was a small spark of thankfulness for saving him that day.

"What about him?" Mado asked, his voice stern and tensed.

"You see I encountered him yesterday."

Instantly the room was silent as all eyes were turned to Shinohara waiting for him to continue what he had to say.

Shinohara sat down and let out a sigh before continuing. "I know it's a rough topic to talk about and I apologize for that… But the 20th ward's been an incident zone for ghoul activity ever since he showed up on the radar."

"You encountered him didn't you?"

Shinohara looked at Mado before nodding. "Yesterday by the river. Aogiri was there too."

This time Amon joined in. "You're saying Eyepatch is part of Aogiri?!"

"Possibly… We don't know. When we got there everyone was already running away. Also there's one thing." Shinohara looked straight into Mado's eyes, seeming anxious with what he was about to say. "He has your quinque."

Mado tensed up even more and Shinohara feared this, knowing how sensitive the man was to his quinques. "The worst part was that he knew how to use it. He was able to fend me off before more ghouls showed up and backed him up, taking some of my men out before fleeing."

Shinohara pinched the bridge of his nose as a headache was already starting to form on his head as he recalled the last few days. "Point is. This ghoul is now classified as an S+ ghoul. He's dangerous and we barely know anything about him."

"With his recent actions." Akira spoke up. "Wouldn't it be a good idea to try and investigate for him in the 20th ward?"

"It's a possibility since all his encounters with the CCG happen there… But there's also a rumor that he was behind the fire that happened in the 7th ward." He then looks towards Amon and Akira. "Besides, the office has been too busy with the upcoming raid on Aogiri."

Aogiri… Everyone in the CCG's been up and about it ever since they're emergence. The entire department's been busy working as they planned for the upcoming attack in the next few days.

It was one of the biggest operations the CCG has ever done. Word has it that more than a thousand of the CCG's police force would be a part of the raid.

The room was silent for a few moments. Mado remained unspoken, a certain uncomfortable tension began to make its way through the room.

"I see." Mado broke the tension, his voice remaining stern before closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. "I'll do what I can based on this file that you game me eh Yuki-kun?"

Shinohara smiled and placed a hand on Mado's shoulder. "Thank you so much Kureo. It's a shame that you wouldn't be able to join us for the raid, your presence would've gave us a sharp edge against those scum."

Mado shook his head and looked right at Akira. "It really is a shame. It would've been a great opportunity to fight alongside my sweet daughter over there."

Akira blushed at her father's compliment. "I promise I'll make you proud tou-san."

"You've already made me the luckiest father in the world Akira-chan." Mado gave Akira a warm smile. It was something that Amon's never seen before. It was something that he quietly envied, to see the love a father gave to his child.

Shinohara then looked towards them. "Amon I'm sure you're aware of your squadron for the Aogiri raid?"

Amon's eyes lit up, a small sense of nervousness crawled up in his chest. Ever since the incident on the 20th ward, Amon had been working through and through. The guilt of what happened to his partner never leaving his thoughts pushing him to go beyond his limits.

He had been responsible for capturing a great number of Aogiri's ghouls that helped in speeding up their preparation for the upcoming siege at the terroristic ghoul's headquarters.

This has been recognized by Shinohara who had hand picked him to perform under his command for the upcoming raid.

"Y-yes!" Amon said rather awkwardly. "I've been told that I would meet with my squad today sir."

Shinohara chuckled as he walked towards Amon and Akira. Stretching a hand out towards Akira as he did so. "Well Amon, I suppose it's time I introduce you to one of them."

Amon's eyes widened as realization hit him. Akira gave him a respectful nod. "It's a pleasure to work with you."

Amon blushed as he awkwardly returned the gesture. "It's a pleasure to be working with you too."

Amon then approached his former partner and bowed towards him. "I promise I will do my outmost best to keep her safe sir!"

When Amon raised his head he found a smiling Mado shaking his head at Amon's awkward antics.

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

Metal shook as Kaneki was slammed into the cold metal walls of a shipping container.

Yomo's hands were on Kaneki. His face was furious, and his eyes stared into his own with a mixture of anger and betrayal.

Kaneki's never seen Yomo this way… Not ever in his life. But god knew he deserved this.

Irimi and Koma looked at him the same. But they stared at him more with a look of disappointment, than anything else.

It hurt him to see these people look at him that way. And at that moment Kaneki hated himself more than anything else in the world.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Yomo snarled at him.

He couldn't blame the man for reacting the way he did. After all, Touka was among his only family left and he did whatever he could to protect her.

 _And now she was in danger because of him._

His eyes couldn't face Yomo's. He didn't even try to stop the older man, guilt overcoming any other emotion that flowed through him.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered weakly. Gritting his teeth at his own actions.

"That is enough!" The manager screamed at them.

Immediately Yomo let go of Kaneki, stepping away from him. He looked towards the manager, his face no longer as stoic as it meant to be as emotion leaked out from him.

"I'm sorry manager."

The manager merely shook his head. "I understand your actions Yomo-kun." He turns to Kaneki. "I will speak with Kaneki-kun you go deal with the girl, find her a place for her to recover."

Yomo nods his head, takes a look at Kaneki before turning around and begins to walk away. Irimi and Koma followed suit, knowing well what the manager meant.

Even as the tension escaped him Kaneki's heart still weighed him down. He stood there unmoving, leaning his back against the metal shipment as if his life depended on it.

He could only clench his fists as anger crawled up his chest. Anger towards his mistakes, anger towards his recklessness, anger towards himself…

God he hated himself so much. How the hell can someone who knew the future mess it up even more!

He slammed his fist angrily, leaving a dent on the metal wall.

 _It should've been me._

He slammed his fist again.

 _I should've went through that torture again if it meant Touka could be safe._

Before he could vent out his frustrations even more the manager caught his fist. He looked towards the man, who was obviously not pleased with his actions.

"Kaneki." The manager said lowly.

Kaneki slowly turned his head, feeling heavy as if he was intoxicated. As he turned to face the manager he didn't miss the disappointment that etched the old man's face.

"I-I'm sorry…" He turned his eyes away from his gaze, not wanting to meet the disappointment any further.

"Look at me my boy." Yoshimura had authority in his voice. Authority that reached Kaneki as he turned his head and met the man's gaze.

The manager said no words but he knew that the man lost his trust in him. Yoshimura valued his subordinates more than anything in his life, and Kaneki's actions has caused everyone's life to be in danger.

"I'm sure you're aware that all of this is due to the consequences of your actions." The manager continued, his gaze unwavering.

"I do."

He let his hair cover his face, as he dropped his head shamefully.

This was the One Eyed King that was hoped to bring about change in the world.

The king that would bring ghouls salvation

The bird that would break about the cage.

What a fucking joke.

Kaneki realized it now, hell he realized it long ago. Every time he tried to go about and save someone, he only managed to make things much worse than it already was.

He was no king, he was a failure.

A disappointment.

"Manager…"

"I know you're in pain Kaneki." Kaneki looks up at the manager, his eyes in surprise at the older man's words.

"I apologize for this but we've been watching you." The manager admits to him, not that he didn't know already. "The way you act, the things you've done these past few months, your actions seem to have a proper cause for them and it doesn't seem like you want to hurt anybody."

Kaneki looked at the manager in silence. "Kaneki I must admit I fear you." Surprise etched Kaneki's face as he was not expecting that at all. "The things you've done were feats that no normal ghoul could accomplish. You are powerful, and your presence alone has shaken the foundations of Tokyo itself."

"Your actions have put into danger not only Anteiku but the entire 20th ward as a whole, you've broken the peace that I've worked so hard to establish, have put danger on my family, and by all means I should ask you to never show your face at Anteiku again."

"I'm sorry…" Kaneki muttered under his breath. His heart ached at the manager's words but he knew that he deserved it.

"But for some reason I have faith in you."

His eyes immediately gazed up towards the manager. "But why?" Wondering how we could say such a thing.

"We're always trying to justify our actions with ideals. But ideals cannot give grounds for killing another person. The act of taking a life will always be considered… evil." The manager tells him. "When you saved Ryouko-chan and Touka-chan, you managed to do so without killing anyone."

He remembered… When the CCG found out about the existence of two owls, the manager was nicknamed as the Non-Killing Owl.

The name was given to him because of his actions during the Owl suppression operation, in which the manager did not kill but merely disable the doves that fought him.

"You gave me hope."

A tear formed on Kaneki's eye which slowly trickled down his cheek.

 _There are countless ghouls out there that have no choice but to rely on you._

Ayato's words echoed through his thoughts.

 _And all of them… for your sake… they're all holding on because they have you to rely on._

Kaneki's lips quivered as another tear trickled down his face.

"I am an old man with many regrets." Yoshimura shook his head as he placed a hand on Kaneki's shoulder. "But you… You are young yet you have shown the world that ghouls are not just monsters who prey on mankind."

 _Even my sister… is waiting for you._

"Your actions have had consequences yes, but that only means that it is now your responsibility to correct it."

He was right. Kaneki has made choices that had led to consequences. But at the same time he has already changed the course of history.

Ryouko-san was alive. Mado was alive.

"I accept the responsibility." Kaneki clutches his fist looking straight into the manager's eyes with a determined look on his face. "I promise I will do everything in my power to fix this, I promise that I will bring Touka-chan back home."

The manager smiles at him. "I knew you would. You have quite the knack for saving people Kaneki." The manager then looks up at the sky. Watching the snowflakes fall as snow starts to rain from the sky. "I know you have secrets. It would only explain, your actions and the apparent skills you already possess for someone who only recently _transformed_ into a ghoul."

Kaneki turns to the manager stunned at his intuition. He briefly wondered if he should tell him the truth.

 _Will he understand?_

He contemplated on the idea, but decided against it. He himself couldn't make sense of his situation. He didn't know what brought him back and he couldn't believe it himself.

 _What makes him think that the manager would?_

"I will explain everything after this is over." He decided.

He wouldn't tell the truth, instead he would take advantage of his knowledge on the future and use it to create something believable.

He wouldn't stray too far from the truth, he had to explain his actions eventually.

The manager smiles at Kaneki. "I appreciate your faith Kaneki-kun." His expression then turns serious. "We must find a way to rescue Touka-chan and…" He pauses and looks at Kaneki. "… Rize-san."

Kaneki was rather surprised at the manager wanting to save Rize too despite all the trouble that she caused ever since she emerged.

"I do not know of your relationship with her, but it seems to be important enough for you to come out of your way to save her."

He didn't know what to say. He thought of ways for him to be able to explain to him why he did do that.

"Rize…" He paused thinking of something to continue with. "Is someone I knew from a long time ago… I knew what Kanou did to her and to me… I just… I just had to save her"

He left it there. Thinking that it was adequate enough for the mean time.

The manager nodded. But Kaneki knew despite that, the manager would still be expecting answers sooner or later, and Kaneki promised to that.

For now… for now they had something else to do.

"I may know of a way to save them."

* * *

(Touka POV)

Violet eyes slowly opened, and she was met with a cracked ceiling.

She felt her body laid down on something soft. Her hand searches her surroundings and she finds herself on a bed.

"You're finally awake."

Touka's heart freezes at the voice. She recognized that voice more than anything else. Quickly she turns and raises herself up from the bed and faces the voice.

"Ayato…" Touka said surprised.

She stared at her brother in confusion, until she began to remember the events that happened before she lost her consciousness. Her eyes then began to narrow as panic made its way to her. "What the hell am I doing here!?" She screamed.

Her brother grit his teeth and rose from his seat. "What do you mean what the hell you're doing here?!" Ayato then pointed his finger right at her accusingly. "You should be thanking me from saving your ass from getting captured by the CCG!"

Touka paled at his words. "The CCG…?" She tried to recall her last memory. It couldn't be… Kaneki was there, but what did that mean… "What happened Ayato?"

Ayato clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. "The CCG arrived that's what happened. They even had special class investigators, luckily I was able to pull your ass out of there, or you'd definitely be in Cochlea by now."

"W-what happened to Kaneki?" Touka asked worriedly.

"Who the fuck is that?"

"Don't pretend you don't know who he is!" Touka screamed in anger. "You where there because you were after him right?! Don't lie to me Ayato!"

Ayato lost his composure, grabbing the chair he sat on and threw it into the wall, breaking it into pieces. "Why the hell do you care so much?! That freak is dead anyways."

"He's not." Touka said without hesitation.

Immediately Touka stood up from the bed. "Thank you for helping me Ayato but I have to go." Touka said as she begins to walk towards the door.

Before Touka could move any further, she felt a hand on her shoulder stop her from her tracks.

"It's too dangerous for you to step out Aneki." Ayato's voice was dangerous and low.

Touka turns around to face him. "I can take care of myself!" Her furious eyes readied to smack her brother's hand away from her when she met his own.

But as she turned around and met his gaze, she felt the anger in her eyes melt away as she saw the pain and sadness that reflected on her brother's eyes.

"It's been so long since we last spoke…" Ayato then began to recollect himself. "… And you would choose to leave just like that huh."

Slowly at Ayato's words Touka's heart sank. As if sudden realization hit her. As if all this time she had realized that all this time she had forgotten something.

She had forgotten her brother… She had forgotten Ayato.

She opened her mouth in order to be able to say something to her defense but she found words difficult to pass through her.

"A-Ayato…" was all she managed. "It's not like that.

Ayato let's go of her hand, his eyes narrowed as it faced hers. "You taught me everything I knew Aneki." His voice was cold as he spoke. "You know you can't stop your true nature. I've seen you on the news."

Surprise painted her expression, before she narrowed her eyes back towards him. She knew she was impulsive and rash but, that didn't make Ayato right. That didn't make him have the right to talk to her like he knew what she's been through.

"All Anteiku's ever done for you so far was put your life in danger, made you weak. And if it weren't for me I bet the CCG would do everything they can to haul your ass all the way to Cochlea by now!" Ayato said angrily. His body shook as those words left his mouth. And Touka could only wonder what he meant by what he just said.

Touka shook her head in confusion, unable to properly comprehend what her brother just told her. "What?"

"Rabbit." Ayato looked at her, as if he was trying to study the look on her features. "That's what the doves call you Aneki."

He walks over to a table, and stops there. His back was turned so Touka was unable to tell what he was doing there. Then he turns, slowly facing her, and suddenly Touka's eyes widened, realizing what her brother had just meant.

"A-Ayato." Touka covered her mouth in shock as she stared at her brother who wore a black rabbit mask near identical in design to her own.

Touka takes a few steps back until she feels the wall behind her. She closed her eyes, stopping the tears from flowing down her cheeks. She refused to look weak. Not to anyone and certainly not to Ayato.

Ayato takes off the mask and places it back on the table. "Do you really want to be a human that much? Do you remember what happened to our parents?"

Touka looks away, refusing to show Ayato her watery eyes. "Anteiku is my family Ayato… I don't want to live this way anymore."

"So am I."

Ayato then walks to the door, opening it before stopping right at the entrance. "This is for your own good Aneki, it's to keep you safe. Do not leave this room. If you try anything I would know right away."

Ayato then slams the door shut and she could hear it being locked from the outside. She knew the door wouldn't really stop her but something else chained her to that room.

For the first time in a long time, Touka slid down the walls and let the tears trail down from her eyes.

* * *

(Rize POV)

When Rize opened her eyes she found herself in a vast checkered room.

She tried to move but she found her arms and legs were chained to the ground by a strange metal, she tried breaking free from it but found her unable to do so.

"Rize-chan." A voice echoed through the spacious room and Rize's blood went cold.

"No…" She muttered under her breath.

Footsteps echoed as Kanou slowly began to walk towards her. "I apologize for your current restraints Rize-chan. We are unable to find any better equipment ever since Kaneki burned down a large portion of the lab."

The sickening smile that Rize hated more than anything in her life painted itself on the man's face and it sickened her. "But do not fret. As soon as we're able to salvage all our equipment we can go straight back to work!"

Rize grit her teeth and glared straight towards him. "You can't keep me in here forever you son of a bitch."

Rize tried to pick herself up and activate her kagune only for nothing to happen. She kept trying over and over again, wondering why she was unable to despite being able to activate her kakugan when she fought against the twins.

"Don't even try Rize-chan. You may not be as restrained as you used to be but I'm not a reckless man."

Kanou raised his right hand. "Nashiro-chan." He calls out.

Nashiro then steps out from the entrance and Rize noticed that the girl seemed sad. Now Rize could only be able to make out the emotions since she's never seen the girl express any form of emotion before.

Nashiro held a metal tray with a syringe laid on it. As soon as Kanou turned to face the girl, her cold and emotionless eyes soon returned.

Kanou then grabs the syringe, and injects it into a medical bottle, taking out its contents into the syringe. "This is an RC suppressant."

Realization hit Rize as she realized why she couldn't control any of her RC cells. She grit her teeth in frustration as she realizes that she fared no better than the average human as long as she had that drug in her system.

"This drug has already been administered to you, but unfortunately the effect is only temporary so it would need to be reapplied depending on the ghoul."

Rize smiled internally. That would mean that Kanou would have to come close to her to be able to even inject it to her. A ghoul's skin is too hard to be cut by metal so that meant the best logical place to inject the serum would be in her eye.

She would take that opportunity and kill the man right then and there before he could even place that damn thing in her eye.

Kanou then gave the syringe to Nashiro, and Rize's eyes widened realizing that he must have saw this through.

A lone crimson kagune then made its way to her eyes and forced it open. Nashiro closed in with the syringe and all Rize could feel was the cold and sharp pain of metal and the sudden chemicals that rushed in her body.

Instantaneously Rize felt much weaker than she previously was. It seemed that her Kakuhou really was sealed off completely by the drugs.

Rize glares at Kanou. If looks could kill Kanou would definitely be dead now. "You better run Kanou." Rize threatened. "Because as soon as I get out of this, you are going to die a painful death."

Kanou merely laughs, throwing away her threat like it meant nothing at all to him. "Rest assured Rize-chan, what happened at the lab won't happen again."

Something about the way Kanou said it brought a shiver down her spine. Rize collected herself, telling herself that she will not allow this man to toy with her again.

"Kaneki." Rize muttered under her breath. As if it was all she could hope for. As if it was all the hope that she can long for.

She never knew the day would come where she would rely on someone else. But… So many things have changed and she hated to admit it but Kaneki's words had affected her more than she thought.

"He'll come for me." She looked up with a cold gaze into Kanou's eyes. Her words spoke with such confidence, like there is no doubt that Kaneki would get her out. "I know he will."

Kanou looked at her with a studying and rather surprised look on his face. He looked like he was about to say something but before he could, one of the Aogiri subordinates called out to him.

Kanou gave her a glance before following the ghoul leaving Rize all alone with Nashiro in the rather spacious room.

Rize observed the white-clad girl. She gave off this emotionless aura that she tried to give off to people but earlier Rize noticed a hint of emotion from the half-ghoul.

She recalled her and her apparent twin. The two were a troublesome bunch but as soon as her sister got taken out, their entire sync broke off. It seemed the twins valued each other greatly.

"Where's the other one?" Rize asked and instantly she got a reaction from the girl as she glared at her murderously.

Rize tried to hide the smile that ached to form its way to her face as she found a little tug to pull on her. "She didn't make it didn't she?" As soon as the words left her mouth Nashiro stiffened.

Rize decides to press on even further. "I really don't understand why you choose to stay with a monster like that." Rize keeps her eyes firm on Nashiro, waiting for a reaction like it was her prey. "Obviously he doesn't care about you or your sister. He doesn't seem affected by her absence at all."

"He does!" Nashiro finally said something. She was breathing deeply, her fists were clenched and Rize could practically feel the murderous intent emanating from her. "Don't you dare insult him because he took care of me and my sister!"

"Open your eyes." Rize's voice was low and cold. "You know deep inside you that the man has been using you and your sister from the start."

Nashiro visibly flinched at her remark. "Tell me." Rize continued. "Did he even show any concern for your sister."

Nashiro's mouth wavered. Rize was feeding her doubt and it was working. "H-He… He…"

Rize didn't let her finish. "And what about Aogiri? They tried to kill you right?" Rize watched as the aggregation that was in Nashiro's eyes slowly began to fill with doubt. "If it weren't for Touka, I'm sure you'd be dead by now."

Before they could continue, the doors opened as Kanou entered the room with several white suited men behind him. Rize then turned to the man and the ghouls behind him, glaring at them as she studied them.

Rize was familiar with that uniform. _'The white suits…_ ' she recalled, remembering her first encounter with Jason.

"Nashiro." Kanou called out and instantly Nashiro's face returned stoic and emotionless. "These men will serve as extra protection due to Kurona's absence."

Rize was cunning and manipulative. She know that and it was what made her who she was. But the way this girl… No matter how much pain she has caused her instantly shut off her emotions like that, it was sickening to say the least.

Nashiro spared a glance at Rize before she began to walk towards Kanou. "Papa…" Nashiro asked, her voice seemed to waver a bit as if she dreaded the words that she would speak.

"What about Kurona?"

Kanou merely raised his eyebrow at her. "What about her?"

Rize watched as the tension in Nashiro's shoulders dropped at Kanou's words. The half-ghoul remained silent for a few moments. And silently Rize anticipated her reaction.

"Nothing Papa." Nashiro then turned around and picked up the metal tray she left next to Rize. Rize looked into her eyes and studied the dead pan expression on Nashiro's face.

* * *

(Kurona POV)

 _They had everything._

 _They were like dolls living in a dollhouse of their own._

 _Childish laughter filled her mind as Sakura trees blossomed all around them._

 _She felt the warmth of her father's embrace envelop her and her sister as they stared into each other's smiling faces._

 _It was happy._

 _She lived in her very own paradise. She lived running around the green fields of their happy little dollhouse with her sister._

 _She lived between the loving arms of her father and mother._

 _It was perfect, it was all too perfect._

 _Then it all changed. Then there was blood everywhere._

 _Every nook and cranny of their perfect dollhouse was filled with the blood of her mother and father._

 _It was hell._

Kurona sat up panting heavily as sweat trickled down her skin.

She found herself in a dimly lit room, laid on a makeshift mattress on the ground. She tried to stand up but found herself wincing in pain all around her body.

She looked around her and found bandages covering her body. Her clothes were also changed and she seemed to be wearing a shirt that was a tad too big for her petite frame.

Kurona placed her hand on the walls around her and she found the texture strange and rather metallic.

It was then that her heart sank as she suddenly remembered something important missing around her.

Kurona looked left and right, panic stirred from her as she tried to find her sister.

"Nashiro!" Kurona screamed and her voices echoed around her.

It was then the room around her vibrated as a metallic sound vibrated all around her, sounding as if something was being opened.

White light then appeared at the far side of the room, as the walls seemed to creak open.

Kurona stared at the figure that stood at the far side of the room. Moonlight lit the figure giving a shadowy appearance, making it difficult for her to make out who it was.

"Shiro?" Kurona asked with hope in her voice as the figure stepped closer.

Kurona then stood up, wincing at the pain as she started to walk forward to greet her sister.

In a few steps, Kurona's eyes widened and her expression immediately turned feral and hostile.

She felt a rush in her veins as her kagune manifested itself and launched itself straight towards the figure.

Her crimson kagune didn't make it to her target as a hand grabbed itself firmly unto her long kagune stopping it in its tracks. She tried to pull it back but found herself unable to make it budge.

"Kurona." Kaneki said softly. "I'm not here to fight."

"Where is Nashiro!" She screamed at him angrily, hiding the anxiety behind her words.

Kaneki then began to step closer to her, his grip on her kagune firm, making it difficult for her to press forward. "She's safe. She should be in the 11th ward with Aogiri by now."

Kurona felt a wave of relief wash over her. She tried to hide it beneath her hostility but found it hard to do so as the adrenaline could no longer hide the pain she felt from her wounds.

Her kagune dissipated into the air, as she gave into her wounds and felt her the strength in her knees leave her.

Before she could drop to the ground she felt a hand hold her up. Kaneki had his arm around her supporting her as she gently dropped to the ground.

"Don't touch me!" Kurona hissed as Kaneki took his hands off her immediately.

"I swear your sister is safe." Kaneki reassured her again.

"How do I know you're not lying." Kurona glared at Kaneki.

"Because your mission was a success." Kaneki said as he leaned against the walls and slowly slid down as he sat.

Kurona then recalled her last memory. Of her throwing her sister away from her so she could be safe. Of her allowing herself to die for the only person she truly cared about in this world.

"Finally realize you're not as strong as you think onii-chan?" Kurona mocks him as she looks at him dead in the eye. "Why are you keeping me alive?"

It was one thing she couldn't truly comprehend. If they were able to retrieve Rize, shouldn't he have killed her by now? Was he trying to get some information out of her?

She glares at him. "If you're trying to get information out of me, no matter what you do to me I won't say a word."

"I know." Her eyes stare at him with surprise? Was he insane? "I just don't want to kill you that's all."

He then grabs something from his coat and places it in front of her. "I think this belongs to you."

Kurona glanced down towards the object and a single tear flows down her cheek. Like a jar being open, her suppressed emotions suddenly came rushing through her as memory after memory passed through her mind.

"I was able to save it from the mansion…"

It was a photo album of her and her family. Her real family, years and years ago when she was still but a child. She hasn't seen it in forever. It was one of those things she shelved up in that mansion to forget everything about her past.

She carefully brought her hand towards it, afraid that it might disappear if she touched it. She slowly lifted the cover and she was met with a picture of her and her sister, next to them were her parents, both holding her and her sister so lovingly.

Another tear made its way down from her eyes. "Why do you have this." She said, her eyes not leaving the picture of what was once then.

"Before I raided Kanou's lab, I already knew about you." She heard Kaneki say. "What happened to you and your sister was truly tragic. You must have felt so alone during those years."

Kurona kept quiet. Unsure of how to feel about whatever he was telling her. Kaneki has never met her or her sister prior to the lab. He didn't know how he could disclose such information, she didn't know how he could possibly know the truth.

It was as if he took the words right out from her memories.

"I apologize for burning down your home." Kurona looked at Kaneki and was rather surprised to find his head lowered. "I had to stop Kanou from carrying out his plans, and I couldn't just leave that there for him to come back to when he wanted."

"I don't understand." Kurona said to him. Confusion evident on her face as she questioned his intentions. What did he really want? Why was he doing all of this? "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you and your sister don't deserve the fate set out for you."

"What do you mean by that?"

Kaneki hesitates. There was something about the way that he looked at her that bothered her. It had a mix of knowing and regret in them and she didn't know what to make out of it.

"I know something. Something that holds the lives of millions of people and Kanou is at the very heart of it all." He gave her a look that sent a shiver down her spine. His eyes were an odd mix loss and determination. "I can't let it happen."

"I can set you free." Kaneki cut her off before she could respond. "You and your sister don't have to live that kind of life with Kanou anymore. Listen to me for your own good, Kanou would discard you the first chance he gets."

"You don't know that." She denies him.

"Then what if I told you that he was related to the death of your parents?"

Kurona's eyes widened in surprise. "W-what do you mean?"

"Your father gained his fortune by selling a special solution that contained liquid kakuhous which were used in the development of anti-ghoul technology." Kaneki paused as he allowed his words to sink into her. "He sold this to the CCG. That mansion that you lived in belonged to the CCG and not him."

"It would be strange for someone who was such a high profile associate of the CCG to die at the hands of a ghoul during a house invasion wouldn't it?" Kaneki continued.

"N-No it can't be…" Kurona muttered under her breath trying to discern the words laid out to her.

"He tried to spill the truth and the CCG erased him."

Kurona's arms fell to her sides, she stared at the picture of her when she was younger next to her family. She didn't know what to make out of what Kaneki just revealed to her.

Perhaps she just kept denying it because it was easier than to accept that everything you've lived with has been nothing but a lie.

"Even if what you say is true…" Kurona paused, trying to garner her thoughts. "Where does Kanou fit into all this?"

"Kanou worked for the CCG for years before he was removed due to his." Kaneki continued. "He was a part of the project that involved your father's company, he knew about the lab underground. When the CCG removed him, he used you and your sister in order to be able to continue his experiments."

Kurona's hands began to shake as she gripped her head, tears began to roll down her eyes, unable to handle the truth being thrown at her.

"He used you Kurona, he used you and your sister. He even used your painful past in order for him to let you agree to his experiments."

Kurona tried her best to deny anything he told her but she couldn't… He was right, everything he just told her made so much sense. It felt like her heart was bleeding out of her chest. Everything she and Nashiro did was because she thought that Kanou genuinely cared for them.

And to find out that they were being used all this time hurt like hell.

Kurona felt a hand on her shoulder as Kaneki gave it a gentle squeeze. "I know you feel like you can't go back to the human world because of what he did to you." Kurona looked up at Kaneki with her tear filled eyes. "All you wanted was to find love. And it's not too late Kurona."

Kaneki activated his kakugan. "We're the same Kurona. I feel the same way too…" He takes his hand of her shoulder and gives her a small bag that contained food and water for her. "Anteiku can help you and your sister, we can help you find a way to fit into the world despite being a ghoul. You just have to let us help you."

Anteiku… Kurona has never heard of ghouls who choose to live peacefully with humans. She recalled the girl who shielded her and her sister from one of the Aogiri executives.

She watches as Kaneki stands up and begins to walk towards where he came in. "We're going to rescue them." He says as he turns around and faces her.

"It's suicide." Kurona warns with her voice suddenly feeling dry all of a sudden as she spoke. "The CCG is coming. You won't be able to get in."

"Don't worry, we'll find a way in." He pauses. "You can choose to stay or leave, it's up to you. Just like you said, there's no safe way to get into the 11th ward without having to go through the border set up by the CCG."

"That offer applies to your sister too should you accept." Kaneki said and before Kurona could ask any more questions, he leaves the entrance slightly closed just enough for the moonlight to seep through.

* * *

(Amon POV)

Amon found himself feeling nervous as several of the major figures of the CCG literally sat all around him.

It was December 16 and three days have passed since Aogiri's last appearance in the 20th ward. Their preparations for the upcoming raid to take back the 11th ward from Aogiri was immensely shortened due to surprising information leaked unto them.

The chattering around the room was immediately silenced as the doors opened a man stepped in.

That man was no other than Itsuki Marude, the man in charge of the upcoming 11th ward special countermeasures unit.

Amon had only heard stories of the man and it was an honor to finally see him in person. He carried an air of confidence around him as he strode his way towards the platform while everyone's eyes were focused solely on him.

"You're all here today because we have received some very helpful information that will aid us in taking back the 11th ward!" Marude spoke, turning around rather dramatically as he said so. "The tip was anonymous but we have validated this information to be 100% accurate!"

A projector was then turned on, showing the full layout of Aogiri's current location. Amon was surprised to see what was shown right before him. Layout, population, even defense strategies were pointed out descriptively.

"This information has already been disclosed to you! It seems we have a guardian angel over our heads." Marude paused as a smirk began to form in his face. "For those of you who do not recall my name, I am Itsuki Marude, the man in charge of all your lives for this Operation! And as your commander I hereby declare-"

Marude raised his hand into the air. "The operation to take back the 11th ward shall now commence!"

Investigators all around Amon raised their hands as they all gave out a battle cry. Amon felt his hands shake in excitement, he has never been a part of an operation of this scale.

Everyone immediately left the room and Amon was soon to join them. As he jogged through the halls he found Akira standing there looking straight at him holding a metal briefcase in her hands.

"Akira!" Amon said startled at her appearance.

In response, Akira extended her arms and held the briefcase rather carefully. By the way she held it, it seemed as if she was offering it to him.

"Father wanted you to have this." Akira's eyes were like daggers glaring at him. It made him rather hesitant to even approach her, let alone take what she seemed to be reluctant in offering him.

Amon gulps as he takes the briefcase that Akira offered to him. "Thank you… What is it?" He asks wondering what Mado could possibly want him to have and ask his daughter to personally hand it to him.

"It's a quinque." Instantly Amon's eyes lit up. "Father told me that he promised to lend you one of his quinque's since your Doujima got damaged."

Amon winced at the memory. It was during one of his encounters with Aogiri. He greatly underestimated the ghoul as he barely managed to escape a strong bikakau type if it weren't for his quinque absorbing most of the blow.

"What is it?" Amon asked, his fingers twitching to release the quinque hidden inside the case.

"It's called Kura." Akira smirked, placing a hand on her hip as she did so. "It's one of dad's old ones. A koukaku type, similar in design to your Doujima with the exception of being a blade."

Amon was a little intimidated by the description. He's been using Doujima ever since, and he was a little concerned at the thought of using an unfamiliar quinque for the first time on a big operation.  
"Don't worry." Akira shook her head as if she could read what he was thinking. "Dad told me that it'll come natural to you."

Amon gulped at the remark. He could only hope and pray that his former partner was right. It wasn't like he was left with many options to begin with.

Amon bowed his head at Akira. "Thank you and please thank your father for letting me use one of his quinques."

Akira turned around and began to walk, following the rest of their subordinates. "Just make sure you're alive enough to be able to return it."

 _Ice cold…_

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

The night echoed through the silence. Kaneki gazed upon the moon, his heart stood unsteady, as he itched to get everything started.

 _Patience._

He told himself, there was nothing to be achieved if he were to go in guns blazing towards Aogiri and the CCG. He's already learned his lesson from making brash moves thinking he can take everybody on.

Although it was hard not to act as merely right before him was Aogiri's headquarters right here in the 11th ward.

And right inside it lay Touka and Rize, waiting for him.

He hears footsteps walk towards him from behind. The leaves rustled with every step, and as he looks behind him, he finds Banjou all by himself.

"Uh…" Banjou begins to scratch the back of his neck. "Hey Kaneki."

Kaneki gives the older man a gentle smile. "Banjou-san."

Banjou visibly relaxes a bit at Kaneki's words. He begins to walk and stand right beside Kaneki, eyeing Aogiri's base along side him.

"So we're walking in there huh?" Banjou's voice was laced with some nervousness.

Kaneki has known the man for such a long time and he knew that despite the strong conveying presence he gives off, Banjou is a pacifist and doesn't engage himself in violence if he can.

"Feeling nervous Banjou-san."

Banjou looked towards Kaneki with his mouth agape, visibly seeming rather surprised that Kaneki seemed to read his thoughts. He scratched the back of his head again as he sighed and closed his mouth.

"Yeah…" Banjou paused. "I've seen the ghouls that make up that organization and they're all ruthless."

Kaneki nodded understanding what he meant. "Aogiri is composed of ghouls who wanted to fight back instead of hiding in fear of the CCG catching them." Kaneki then places a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Anteiku may be few but we are composed of strong ghouls."

"I just want to see her again…" Banjou admits.

"You've really fallen head over heels for her huh?" Kaneki smirked.

Banjou freezes and immediately turns a deep shade of red. He turns his head away from Kaneki and that was all Kaneki needed to know.

"Kaneki-kun, it's nice to see you again."

Kaneki turns his head, recognizing the voice to find Tsukiyama standing there along with the rest of Anteiku's members with the addition of Uta.

He looked left and right. All the way from the manager and even unexpectedly, Nishio-senpai. Everyone except the manager wore a purple cloak reminiscent of Aogiri's own.

He momentarily locked gazes with Yomo who met his eyes with a glare. Kaneki hid it but he felt hurt that he's managed to cause his relationship with the man who he saw as his guide to turn out this way. Yomo looked away as Uta managed to catch his attention away from Kaneki.

Kaneki swore to himself that as soon as he gets Touka and Rize back, he'll do whatever it takes to mend the bridges that he has burned.

A loud noise suddenly filled the empty silence of the night, as a helicopter began to survey the surroundings below. Immediately Anteiku hid behind the thick canopy of the trees surrounding them, hiding in the darkness before the chopper left the air space.

"Everyone." The manager spoke up, tearing away the tense atmosphere around him. "What we are about to do is dangerous, and could very much risk our lives. If you so as much have doubts on your participation, you are more than welcome to step down here and now."

The manager's words cut through them and Kaneki looked around him, feeling the nervousness that each and every member of Anteiku exerted. No one spoke up, and the manager seemed to smile as he felt proud at the determined looks everyone had on their faces.

"Kaneki-kun has asked of my services for this mission." Tsukiyama said and all eyes were on him. He placed a hand over his heart rather dramatically and gently bowed towards the manager. "I promise I won't disappoint."

Kaneki smiled at his right hand man. Shuu looked over to his direction, not once flinching from his elegant bow and returned the smile given to him.

"I-I want to save Rize!" Banjou was the one who spoke up this time albeit rather awkwardly. He looks between the pairs of eyes all staring at him. "And of course Touka-chan too."

Banjou was essential in their mission. Kaneki was admittedly already familiar with the layouts of the old building as the memories of him and this place in another life was far too bearing for him to forget. Unfortunately, he'd be participating alone as the rest would move as a group, therefore Anteiku would need a guide through the layout of the building.

"Banjou-sama!" Jiro cheered along with her siblings at Banjou's determination.

Originally, the manager was distrustful towards Banjou and his companions as they were members of Aogiri. But after Banjou told them about his story, and that he never really wanted to be a part of the group of terrorists, the manager then offered Banjou a hand which led to him tearing up.

Of course Kaneki vouched for Banjou, telling the manager that everything that he said was true, after supposedly _looking_ up his identity.

The air around them seemed to lighten up as determination began to fill the minds of each and every member of Anteiku. It was a little scary, Kaneki admitted to himself as he worried that things would play out differently this time.

To begin with there were more of them here, and of course the tables have turned and he was the one who no longer required the rescuing. Kaneki had faith that they'd find Touka sooner or later as he knew that Ayato would do all he can to protect his sister despite his personality at this current time. He also had a feeling that it was the reason why he took Touka in the first place.

Rize on the other hand…

Now that was a new variable. Back then Kanou didn't associate himself with Aogiri yet so, there was no Kanou to worry about but now… Now was different.

Aogiri wanted Kanou in the first place because they wanted him to create more of him and that was exactly what he did. The man also worked behind Eto's back as he helped Furuta behind the shadows.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as he sighed the heaviness away from him. He decided to think about that later and just cross the bridge when he gets there. He already had more matters to attend to.

Kaneki walked towards Hinami, and crouched to meet the girl's height. Like before, she was here too, this time though she wanted to be there when Touka gets back.

"How are you Hinami?" Kaneki asked, placing a hand over the girl's head.

Hinami looked up, revealing her nervous eyes. "I'm a little scared…" She gripped both her fists into a ball and brought them in front of her. "But I want to be here too."

Kaneki began to gently rub Hinami's head comfortingly, feeling pride in her courage despite her young age. "Don't worry we'll get Touka-chan back."

"Now then." The manager speaks up again, this time with a proud expression on his face. "Before we-"

Everyone suddenly felt alert as a new presence joined them. From the distance, a dark figure began to walk towards their group. The figure was shrouded in black, making it hard to make up who it was as they blended along with the shadows.

Yomo along with everyone were on their toes getting ready to get the jump on whoever was walking toward them. But Kaneki looked towards the manager giving him a smile as they both recognized the figure was.

As the figure walked into the moonlight. Everyone gave out a shocked expression as Kurona stood there wearing a purple cloak.

The manager turned to the rest of the group. "Everyone calm down. Kurona-chan is here to help us."

"But manager, she was one of the ghouls who took Touka!" Nishio exclaimed.

"Not a ghoul." Kurona then activated her lone kakugan, earning surprised looks from everyone as she did so. "Half-ghoul."

Over the past few days, Kurona has never left the place they allowed her to stay in. Kaneki would visit her every day in order to provide rations for her. It seemed like she was deep in thought as if she was contemplating a decision. Anteiku wanting to be an example, told her that she could leave anytime she wanted and they won't stop her as she already provided them intel.

It was earlier today that was quite surprising. Kaneki found Kurona outside, waiting for him and asked him if he could bring her to the manager as she wanted to speak to him.

Since Anteiku was closed down for the rest of the week, Kaneki did just that, bringing Kurona with him earning a look of surprise on the managers face.

The manager was never quick to judge as he himself came from a dark past. Most of the members of Anteiku were just the same and Kurona was no exception.

"Kurona along with Banjou-san will guide the rest of you through Aogiri's headquarters were you will find and rescue both Touka and Rize." The manager earned a look of surprise through the rest of them at the addition of Kurona.

Kaneki found that everyone except the older members of Anteiku seemed uneasy as they already knew of this, and they knew well not to doubt the old man's wisdom.

"We will intercept and use the CCG as a distraction as we slip in from behind and retrieve our friends." The manager then points an arm out towards Kaneki. "Kaneki-kun will have another task assigned to him and will not join the rest of the group."

Over the past few days, Kaneki had been assisting the manager in laying out plans for Anteiku. They've scattered various intel which allowed the CCG's advancement to progress faster which allowed for them to rescue Touka and Rize sooner.

Kaneki decided to leave some parts out as it would arise suspicion, leaving only information vital for their success for the manager.

Everyone already knew of the plan, and all had a hardened look on their face. Determination was lit up in everyone's eyes as they had one goal in mind.

One by one, each of Anteiku's ghouls slowly slid a mask, provided to them by Uta. Carefully made to match that of which Aogiri wore, allowing them to blend in.

"Then with that… let us bring our friends back home."

* * *

(Ayato POV)

Ayato opened the door that lead to his room. He's been coming in and out of rather frequently ever since his sister showed up.

He didn't fucking know what reason she had for denying his offer to join Aogiri over and over again. He never really understood why she wanted to live like one of those trash excuses for species such as the humans.

He found her lying on the bed with one leg bent. She's been like that ever since, he either found her staring at the wall, at his rabbit mask, or at the ceiling. It was really out of character for her, or maybe he really didn't know who his sister was anymore.

As soon as he steps in, she immediately turns her head to face him with that look on her face again. She looked at him with such a guilty expression and it pissed him off, but he's been letting it slide, not really knowing why he got so mad over it.

"I brought you food." He places the tray on his hands on her bed carefully not to spill it.

"Ayato." She ignores the tray and looks at him directly. "How long do you think you can keep me in here?"

There.

There she goes again talking to him like she was a prisoner being kept against her will. It pissed him off and hurt him at the same time.

"If you want to leave so bad why haven't you tried yet huh!?" Ayato screamed.

Touka looked stunned for a few moments. Seeming surprised by his outburst, but soon after her eyes straightened and she glared back at him.

"Because of you!"

Touka's words caught him off guard.

 _What the hell do you mean by that._

Immediately Touka stands up and places a hand on Ayato's head much like how she used to all those years ago.

"You don't live this kind of life Ayato…" She looks up at his eyes hopefully. "You can come back with me to Anteiku."

 _Anteiku…_

Ayato grit his teeth and took Touka's hand off him. He felt his blood boil as if the word itself brought upon his heated rage.

"I chose this kind of life!" He pounded his chest with his fist. "I'm not a human lover like you or Dad"

Suddenly he felt a stinging sensation on his cheek. He placed a hand over it as he slowly turned to face his sister, who had her hand drawn after slapping his face.

"Why the hell do you hate dad so much!" She looks at him with anger filled eyes. "He did everything he can to protect us!"

"He abandoned us!" He screamed back at Touka. "It's because of him that we ended up this way!"

"And you!" Ayato felt his lip quiver, looking away from his sister, refusing to show her weakness. "I-I admired you so much… You were all the family I had. When Dad was gone, I saw how much you took care of me. I-I loved you Aneki!"

He felt a cold liquid trickle down his cheek. He tried to hide it but it was too late. "It all changed ever since you wanted to live like them…" The fury and spite in his voice disappeared, replaced by the pain he locked away in his heart all those years ago. "I hated you for it, but at the same time you just… You looked so happy."

He looked into the ceiling, for some reason finding the cracks that decorated it suddenly interesting. "I chose this life because you wouldn't be able to protect yourself if you decided to hide and pretend to be something you aren't." He looked down and found his sister's eyes leaking with tears.

 _You really have grown weak as hell Aneki._

"I chose this life because I wanted to grow strong enough to protect you."  
He felt like the cage that's been trapped inside him suddenly burst open and his heart felt a little lighter. Just for this one moment, he let all the anger and pride go and he finally managed to tell his sister why he left her.

And just like that his shell had broken. God he didn't know why he opened up to her like that but he felt so fucking pathetic now.

"You've always been such a softie Ayato-kun." He felt a hand on his cheek this time. He looked to find his sister smiling as tears slowly fell down her cheeks. "I guess it's my fault you developed such a hard-ass attitude, you got that from me after all."

His heart ached when he saw her. She was smiling… Just like she did back then. It made him miss the old days, it made him miss how they used to be.

"You're so much taller now, hell you'll probably be taller than Dad." He felt a longing sensation in his chest. Like all the anger and pain he's welled up all those years suddenly left him. "I missed you Ayato."

Touka then turns away from his eyes. "But I'm sorry, I can't go with you… Anteiku has become my home."

She steps away from him, closes her eyes and opens them. Lightning crackled as her kagune emerged from her back. Like a flame it trickled and fluttered all throughout her room.

Even as it seemed to burn, some feint traces of electricity crackled around it. Nostalgia grew in his heart as it reminded him so much of Mom.

"We both chose different paths but that doesn't mean it's made us weak." She closes her eyes and the room returned to its dim light. "You've become so strong Ayato."

Ayato looked at his sister, not knowing what to say. It seemed that he's finally brought up years and years of pent up emotions. His heart still ached, but it ached for something else.

As he slowly began to step forward he was interrupted as one of his subordinates came rushing in.

Like a switch being flicked, Ayato was prepared to slam the intruders head into the wall when he was stopped by the deranged look on his subordinates face.

"A-Ayato-san!" The ghoul's face was shaking, and panic was visibly drawn in his face.

Ayato angrily grabbed the ghoul's shirt and lifted him up. "What! What do you want."

The ghoul continued to shake, this time seeming even more afraid than before. "The CCG… they're here!"

Immediately Ayato's face paled and he dropped the ghoul on the ground. "What… there's no way! We weren't expecting them to be this early"

The ghoul clumsily picked himself up. "I-I don't know boss but the scouts have been taken out! It looks like their entire force is on its way!"

Ayato felt tense. How the hell could those fuckers get here so early!? He immediately walked towards the table where his rabbit mask lay and holstered it in his jacket.

He needed to meet with the others. Without a doubt everyone must be in disarray right now and he needed their force to get their shit together or they're fucked.

"Tell the others that I'm on my way." He orders the underling.

The ghoul nodded his head and ran out to the door to meet with the rest of Aogiri's members.

Ayato followed after, walking towards the door stopping just right by its frame.

He closes his eyes, refusing to look at her face. It seemed that they wouldn't be able to continue this conversation but at the very least…

At the very least they understood each other now.

"Goodbye Aneki." He says as he walks out the door.

Ayato then moves to a sprint, reflecting on the words exchanged by him and his sister. He knew they weren't done yet, but he swore that he would see her again.

From the distance he swore he could hear a feint voice resembling his sister, telling him to be careful.

* * *

(Nashiro POV)

Black and red checkers stretched her vision, surrounding everything around her.

This place served as the makeshift base of operations that was provided to them by Aogiri when they joined.

It still unnerved her though… This place, this organization. She just couldn't feel safe and secure around it.

Especially since her sister and her separated.

Bags decorated her eyes, days of unrest succumbing to her as she could barely sleep at night not knowing whether or not her sister was alive.

And there was that one incident… One of the organizations very own executives tried to kill her and Kuro-chan. It angered her, and she wanted to vent out her frustrations on that one man, but she was too intimidated by the organization's power to try and fight one of the higher ups nonetheless.

Nashiro knew she was slowly falling apart. Her sister was missing, she was stuck with these deranged maniacs, and most of all that girl was getting to her head.

It was easier when she was barely conscious back in the lab. Now, her words were like poison, slowly digging into her skull and driving the gist of her sanity away from her.

Paranoia and doubt began to take over her dreams and emotions. She tried her best to control herself but was slowly finding it to be more of a challenge each and every time and it was bad.

 _Papa didn't like it when we get emotional._

She stared towards Papa's busy figure. It seems that he was preparing to move soon as the known threat known as the CCG was drawing close, and tensions were arising.

 _Did he ever show concern for you and your sister?_

That woman's voice never seemed to leave her mind at ease. Every time she would look at Papa those words seemed to seduce her mind like a drug. She has always been tempted to come up to him and ask him but he always seemed so busy… She really didn't like it when Papa got mad.

Yet… It was difficult. Without Kurona, the control and security she felt just wasn't there.

She looked towards Rize and found her staring at her with the sickly smile of hers. Rize then began to turn her head towards Kanou as if motioning for her to approach him.

Nashiro grit her teeth. She knew what that woman was doing, and she simply couldn't let her emotions to take over her.

But at the same time she was just so tempted. Papa was like a father to her but Kurona… Kurona was all she had left.

She felt herself drawing in, taking slow steps towards Papa, as he was so busy in whatever he was doing.

She ignored the pleased look Rize threw at her. She didn't know why she kept tempting her, of course Papa cared about her and Kuro-chan.

Papa told her that he loved her and her sister like they were his own. He was just stressed and worried over everything that was all!

She was sure that he was just working on a plan right now to find Kurona…

…Right?

She stood there, a mere few feet away from him now. She slowly opened her mouth but found words hard to muster.

If she was so certain that he cared why… Why was it so hard for her to say anything?

"P-Papa." Her voice quivered, her response barely audible too soft for the man in white to hear. "Papa." She said louder, trying to hide the emotion that clawed at her throat.

"Yes?" He never stopped working. Not even turning to face her as he seemed to gaze at the vast amounts of paper surrounding him.

"A-about Kurona…"

"Nashiro-chan, we've already discussed this." She anxiously watched Papa stop his work and turn towards her. "Kurona is long gone, and we no longer need her. We have bigger things to worry about, we need to leave this place soon."

"But Papa." She cried out, her emotions spilling out as panic and worry overcame her.

The large room echoed as Nashiro held her stinging cheek, right after her Papa hit her.

"I don't have time for your bickering child." Kanou warned. "You've become too spoiled-"

Nashiro could no longer make up the rest of his words. It seemed to drown out in between the ringing in her ears and the sound of her own heartbeat.

 _She was with her sister. They were at the academy, together they walked back to their dormitory provided to them by the CCG._

 _It was lonely living there, but she was contented as long as she had her sister._

Rize's words echoed through her mindscape, and like poison it began to spread throughout her body. Intoxicating her in the pain and slowly taking over her body.

 _Dr. Kanou invited her and her sister to lunch again. He seemed to be a nice person and they saw various news articles speaking of his philanthropy._

 _He treated her and her sister really nice. He'd often give them gifts and he would always ask him how their day was._

 _He was such a caring man, that reminded her so much of her father._

Lies… Everything he's done for them had been nothing but lies. Her arms shook heavily. She traded everything, she traded her life having faith in him!

 _Tears slowly slid down her cheeks as she saw their old home once again._

 _Papa told them that he bought it from the bank and asked them if they wanted to live with him as his adopted daughters._

 _She felt so much happiness during that day. She didn't feel so alone anymore._

Her dreams. Her future. Her sister! Everything! And now she can't go back anymore, she can't reach for her dreams anymore. She's stuck becoming this…

This thing. This monster!

 _She stared at her own reflection. It was just right after the surgery that Papa had done… Her eye looked different from before. It was black, it was abnormal it was…_

 _A ghoul._

 _She hid the fear and uncertainty she felt, knowing that helping Papa in his research was the least she could do for everything he's done for her and her sister._

And the poison clawed at her heart. Doubt and fear now turning into regret and hatred. Hatred for this liar. Hatred for the man that used her and manipulated her.

Nashiro screamed, feeling the rush of RC cells spreading throughout her body as she picked Kanou by his coat and threw him crashing to the wall.

Tears began to fall from Nashiro's face as she stood there breathing heavily, finally realizing what she just did.

"It seemed I made a grave mistake." She spun and turned to find Kanou on the ground, wiping some blood from his lip. She instantly felt guilty for what she had done, seeing him like that. "I shouldn't have tried to suppress the emotions of my experiments after all."

The remorse she felt for that man died at those words. Heated anger filled her chest as her kagune activated, pointing threateningly at Kanou.

"You liar!" She screamed as she let the anger take over her. Slicing the air between her and Kanou with her lone kagune.

This was it… She was going to kill him. He was going to pay for everything he's done. He was going to pay for his manipulation.

He was going to pay for destroying her life, destroying her _humanity_.

"Wait!" Kanou shouts and her kagune stops a few inches away from Kanou's chest. "You can't possibly have the heart to kill me! I know you Shiro-chan, you and your sister are such sweet girls."

He looks at her with those pleading eyes and her entire body freezes. She can't bare to do it while he looked at her like that.

 _"_ _I see you and your sister have top marks in the academy, I'm so proud of the both of you!"_

 _"_ _You two don't have to be so alone anymore."_

 _"_ _If ever I had any children I wish that it was the two of you."_

Nashiro closed her eyes, turning away as she screamed from the top of her lungs. Tears fell from her eyes as she readied her kagune to end him once and for all.

"Goodbye Papa."

Blood sprayed the floor as Nashiro fell to her knees. Her kagune dissipated through the air, holding the blade embedded through her chest.

She looked behind her and found several of the white suits with their kagune activated spread out around her.

Nashiro coughed blood as the kagune stabbed through her was retracted back. Searing pain surrounded her body, as she weakly supported her weight with her one arm as the other tried to cover the hole in her gut.

She weakly looked up, straight towards Kanou and found him smiling at her. As if he was relieved that she was close to dying.

Anger made its way through her once more as she felt the damaged flesh in her gut forcefully patch itself together in an abnormal rate.

She screamed as her kagune formed impaling the ghoul that snuck up behind her through the head, killing him instantly.

She picked herself up and one of the white suits jumped to her, ready to strike her down.

Nashiro stepped back, and as the ghoul landed, she used his own weight to impale him straight to her kagune.

Nashiro then began to fend off the rest of the white suits. Taking in some scratches as they outnumbered her six to one. She danced around them, sing her small frame to swiftly evade their attacks.

Another one of the white suits fell to the ground and Nashiro found herself panting. Her white attire was soaked in blood mixed with hers and the white suits.

They seemed to be taking their time with her now. Not recklessly throwing themselves at her like they did earlier.

There were only four of them now, and she was feeling confident in her abilities as they seemed to lack coordination despite their numbers.

Nashiro studied her enemies carefully and picked a target. She leapt to the air, ready to crush her target with her kagune when in a blink of an eye something quickly hit her in the chest and she was violently slammed to the ground.

"Well it seems your dogs aren't as loyal as you thought they were huh Kanou?"

When Nashiro's vision cleared she was met with a large blonde man, wearing one of the white suits the ghouls around them, with a sickening grin plastered on his face.

She recognized his as one of the executives of Aogiri. Realizing who she was facing, Nashiro tried to pick herself up but was stopped when a boot slammed her head back to the ground.

She grabbed his leg with both her arms. Desperately trying to get the crushing weight off her skull but it only grew heavier and heavier.

Before she could feel her skull crack under the weight, she then felt the pressure leave her as the man took his boot off her.

She then felt his strong grip around her neck, lifting her up making it hard for her to breathe.

Nashiro struggled, clawing at the stronger ghoul, trying to get him off her. She brought her kagune out and swung it at his arm, hoping to slice it off but only found his kagune wrapping itself around her own, stopping it at its tracks.

"Tell me." He gave her a sickly smile.

Nashiro screamed in pain as she felt her kagune being violently ripped from her back. Her already bare breathing shook as the pain resonated all throughout her body.

She remembered him now… The ghoul before her was no other than the infamous Jason. The torturer. The psychopath feared even among ghouls.

The pressure on her neck left her as he grabbed her by the hair. No sooner did she find her face violently slammed back to the ground.

Blood began to form on the ground as she was repeatedly slammed into the checkered tiles, already forming cracks from the force.

Her head pounded and she felt her consciousness slowly leaving her as this madman seemed to enjoy breaking her.

The pain stopped and Nashiro's white hair began to turn red with all the blood that leaked from her wounds.

He lifted her by the hair again, drawing his face close to her ear.

"What is one thousand minus seven?"

Her eyes wandered to his own and before he could think that he had control over her, she spat on him, tainting his white suit with her blood soaked saliva.

"Burn in hell." She taunted him.

She felt her face get violently shoved into the ground once more. "It seems like you're still quite sane."

She then felt him step on her hand. She could no longer fight back as her entire body ached in pain and she could only stay awake with sheer willpower alone.

She felt his hand pull on her finger. "Let's change that." And with one motion he twisted it upwards at an awkward angle.

Nashiro screamed in pain. Her eyes started to well up from the torture this man was giving her. No sooner did she scream once more as he continued to break all her fingers one by one.

"Now…" He twisted the ligament once more. "What's one thousand minus seven."

Kurona lay there, with all her fingers broken. Her body moved uncontrollably as she experienced pain like no other. She couldn't stop the tears that shed from her eyes as the pain became unbearable.

Her cries echoed the room. She felt her hair being lifted again as she was forced to meet the man's deranged eyes once more.

"F-Fuck you." She was able to muster with the last of her strength.

The man only smiled even more. "You're amazing!" Jason laughed.

The son of a bitch truly was a maniac. He let go of her head as she was left to slump to the ground. Watching his form walk away from her.

 _"_ _Shiro!" Her sister called out to her, holding out a plate with scrambled eggs that she cooked by herself. "Taste it!"_

 _She curiously took the spoon from the plate and grabbed a piece of the dish her sister made and tasted it in her mouth._

 _Her face lit up as the egg was actually quite good! She took more bites out of it until she finished the whole plate._

 _"_ _It's so good Kuro-chan!"_

 _"_ _Thanks!" Kurona smiled with a determined look on her face. "When I grow up I want to own my own restaurant!"_

 _Nashiro then grabbed her sisters hand and held it. "Then when I grow up I want to be your first customer."_

Her vision started to darken, and she realized she was slowly slipping out of her consciousness. She smiled at the memory, it was one of the few that she had in her life and she deeply cherished it with all her heart.

 _You always gave me strength Kurona._

Her kakugan lit itself back to life again as she forced her hands to hold unto the cracked floor. Blood leaked from her entire body but she ignored it.

She cried out in pain as she forced herself on one knee. She panted heavily, wiping away the blood from her mouth with her broken fingers.

 _I want to see you again._

* * *

(Kurona POV)

"Open fire!"

Kurona moved quickly, hiding behind one of the many pillars surrounding them. The entire floor lit up as gunfire and a variety of projectiles were launched towards them.

She clenched her teeth behind her mask. She didn't expect the CCG to advance this quickly, and consequentially, the rest of her group eyed both her and Banjou, looking at them questioningly.

It didn't take her to be a genius to guess what thought raced their mind in their current situation.

Yomo caught her attention and signaled towards her and another one of their companions. His hand counted down from three, and as soon as his fingers slowly folded into a fist, she took the silent message and began her move.

As soon as the gunfire ended, Anteiku moved in sync. More gunfire echoed the empty hallway as they tried to meet their marks but Anteiku was too fast and far too organized.

It didn't take long for the room to grow silent again as the last investigator dropped to the ground.

Yomo then looks at her, his mask may hide his face but she could very well know what face he was showing her right now.

"I thought you said you knew were we were going." His voice was low and icy, it unnerved her slightly, but she didn't allow him to push her.

"I did." She returned with the same tone. "I didn't expect them to advance this fast. _We_ did help them out after all."

The two eyed each other down, and tension began to thicken between the two. She knew he didn't trust her, but she sure as hell didn't want to go through their mission with him doubting her ass all the time.

"She's right." All eyes turn towards Banjou, who stood there nervously. "This is the right path."

The two glared each other down for a few moments before Yomo nodded his head. "Fine." He then turns towards the rest of the hallway. "Lead the way."

 _"_ _Yomo!"_ Their comm link burst to life, Irimi's voice calling out for them. _"On your location, fourteen doves on the move!"_

Before they could continue their advancement, dozens of footsteps echoed throughout the complex, coming from the other side of the building.

"Shit." She heard Yomo swear. "Hide!" He commanded and everyone hurried and hid themselves from plain sight.

Kurona hid behind a wall, carefully eyeing out the rest of her group, taking note of their locations one by one.

She tried to steady her breathing as the footsteps grew louder and closer. She could practically hear the beating of her own heart from the growing tension.

Suddenly the footsteps stopped and order was cried out as several gunshots echoed through the floor.

 _It must have been one of Aogiri's ghouls._

The gunfire stopped and Kurona guess that whatever was on the receiving end of that bullet storm was long gone.

That was until the silence was replaced with blood curdling screams as the sound of flesh and bones ripping could be heard.

Blood reached the floor near the wall she hid. Kurona's eyes widened witnessing the carnage befallen behind her.

 _What on earth could do that?!_

Silenced covered the building again, brought to them by the gore created by the massacre that occurred before them.

Shakingly Kurona took a step forward, readying herself to face whatever monster was about to meet them.

It seemed the rest of her group did the same. All eyeing the long purple figure that stood at the center of the carnage that surround him.

It seemed that she wasn't the only one uneasy about their current situation. Everyone around her seemed as tense as she was.

Any ghoul who could wipe out an entire squadron by himself in seconds in such a fashion was someone that you couldn't underestimate after all.

The figure slowly turned around and various kagune began to be brought to life. Each and every member of Anteiku had their kagunes drawn and ready to face the opponent standing meters away from them.

The figure just stood there, observing them silently. It unnerved her. She saw this ghoul once, and it was when she went her for the first time with Kanou.

She never saw him again after that, but even back then he gave of this terrifying aura about him.

"Be careful." Yomo warns them. "This one isn't normal."

Like a nightmare incarnate, the ghoul before them brought out his kagune and it was unlike anything Kurona has ever seen.

It was as if the kagune was made out of mouths and dozens of them even. She watched in horror as the kagune grew in size and in one motion, it began to devour all the bodies around it.

Even for a ghoul, the act itself was sickening… And the ghoul just stood there unmoving. Whatever he- No whatever that was. It was dangerous.

Anteiku just stood there, watching the monster feast upon its prey.

No one dared to make a move, clearly as intimidated as she was by his actions.

When the feast was over, the kagune stopped and slowly began to rise to the air. She watched as it continued to chew on the bodies of the squadron as it kept itself on the air. Blood and pieces of flesh decorated its teeth, and Kurona was sure that she wouldn't be able to properly sleep for the next few months.

Then it turned.

It turned to face them next and what happened next brought a chill to her spine.

The various mouths that made up that monster's kagune stopped chewing and began to smile sickeningly.

In an instant, the nightmarish kagune flew towards them in such speeds that caught them off guard. They moved quickly, doing whatever they could to prevent themselves from being added to the monster's dinner.

Yomo acted quickly, dancing around the monstrous kagune, as he tried to close the distance between himself and the monster.

Parallel to him Uta followed, following his movements. Kurona watched in amazement as the two of them moved in unison. Uta and Yomo having managed to close the distance enough to slice of the ghoul's kagune.

To her right, Tsukiyama used this opportunity to charge towards the ghoul. As he drew close, he aimed his kagune and began piercing it straight through the ghoul's chest several times.

"A ten!" Tsukiyama brought his kagune deep through the ghoul as he sliced upwards, nearly slicing the ghoul in half.

Yomo was quick as he jumps straight into the air, and with a spin, kicks the ghoul's head straight off his shoulders.

"Dolce."

Before they could celebrate their victory however, the detached head then began convulsing rapidly. It's flesh began to expand in random directions, thinning into strings that seemed to stretch all across the room.

Then one of the strings makes its way back to the headless body that remained standing on the ground and it begins to rapidly make its way back to its body. Flesh began to knit itself back together, almost unfazed by any damage they've caused the freak of nature.

"What the hell…" She heard Banjou say from behind her.

The ghoul's body then began to expand in the same manner that it did earlier, and her eyes widen realising what the ghoul was just about to do. "Get out of there!" She screams as the three men try to distance themselves away from the ghoul as much as possible.

The ghoul's head then shifts into a kagune as it rises to the air, and she shapes her kagune to surround her front, shielding her and Banjou from the attack that was no doubt responsible for the dove's squad's massacre.

She braces herself as the ghoul's kagune began to rain on them. She felt some of it reaching her sides as she winces in pain, trying her best to hold her ground.

The hellstorm finally ended and she dropped down to her knees. Breathing deeply as she ignored the searing pain around her limbs.

The rest of the group seemed as damaged as she was, each bleeding, covered by wounds all over their bodies.

Uta seemed to be the most wounded of the group, standing in a pool of his own blood but miraculously still finding himself to be alive.

 _What the hell are we gonna do to something like that?_

Kurona clenched her fists. Not knowing what to do, feeling helpless in their situation.

"Everyone!" The group turns their eyes towards Yomo. His kagune changed in shape crystallizing into a mass of black crystals that trickled with electricity.

"Brace yourself!" The leader of the group screamed as lightning began to crackle around him as a condensed bolt of electricity formed right in front of him.

The ghoul turned to face Yomo, now recognizing the underlying threat as it's kagune then began to race towards him, but it was too late.

In one motion, Yomo launched the ball of lightning towards the ghoul and as it reached its target, caused a large explosion that knocked Kurona off her feet.

She shielded her eyes from the light, hearing the concrete crash into the ground as the ceiling above them seemed to cave in due to the explosion.

When she opened her eyes she found the ceiling where the ghoul stood collapse as several debris filled the rest of the hallway.

She turned left and right but it seemed that the rest of the group was missing.

Kurona looked behind her and found Banjou still there, rubbing his head, as he carefully picked himself up.

She walked towards where Yomo once stood and found a gaping hole where the floor used to be. It seemed that one corner of the building collapsed on itself, swallowing Yomo and the others.

"Hello!" She screamed out loud hoping for a response.

No response.

" _Kurona._ " She heard a voice from her comm link. She recognized it as Irimi's voice. _"Yomo and the others are okay, but they got caught up with some of Aogiri's ghouls. You and Banjou will have to go ahead._ "

Kurona stood there momentarily amazed at the woman's logistics.

 _"_ _Understood."_ She responds as she looks towards Banjou and gestures for him to follow her.

Cries and gunfire echoed the complex all around them. They swiftly and carefully made their move, using their knowledge on the layout and Irimi's logistics.

 _It seemed that the CCG was progressing faster than we thought._

This place felt more like a bloodbath than an actual base. The concrete was decorated with the blood and corpses of CCG and Aogiri alike.

It was chaos, and looking behind her she found Banjou expressing the same thoughts as he eyed the corpses laid throughout.

"I knew some of these ghouls…" Banjou said softly. Carefully taking out their masks and closing the look of horror their eyes displayed.

"We don't have time for this." Kurona told him.

The sight before her gradually made her uneasy, her own heart clenched itself as her sister's fate was still unknown.

In truth she could care less about what happens to Rize and Touka but… She just wanted to get her sister out of this shit hole as soon as she can.

"I know…" He slowly rose to his feet. "It's the least we could do for them."

Kurona's instincts screamed at her. She quickly turned around, her kagune brought to life as hurried footsteps made their way from behind her.

A flurry of crystals reflected the moonlight as they made their way through her. Kurona backpedaled, as the crystals shattered into a thousand pieces on the ground where she once stood.

She brought herself to a pounce as she glared at the ghoul that attacked her. Finding the crystals very similar to the Aogiri executive that tried to harm her and her sister.

The figure was hidden under the shadows, hidden by one of the cloaks Aogiri wore, making it hard to make up who the figure was.

She readied herself to strike as soon as the figure came into her range. At the same time Banjou readied himself in a stance to fight the intruder.

The ghoul then came into range, taking a step out of the shadows and into the moonlight. In an instant, Kurona soared through the air, he kagune ready and raised to strike at the attacker.

She was half way there when she froze. As the attacker's features were shown under the feint light.

Immediately Kurona brought her kagune to the ground, using it to stop her approach as she dropped to the ground.

"Touka…" She heard Banjou say from behind her, obviously just as surprised at Touka's arrival. After all they were supposed to rescue her.

Unforunately for them, Touka remained tense. The sound of glass cracking littered the room as Touka's kagune crystallized once more.

"Wait!" Kurona screamed and raised her hands but it was too late. The hailstorm already made its way to her and Banjou.

Kurona rolled to the ground dodging the oncoming attack and Banjou did just the same.

Banjou screamed in pain as one of the shards struck him on the shoulder. Kurona grit her teeth as the situation wasn't going as planned.

She grabbed the mask provided to her and threw it aside. "We're not here to fight you!"

This seemed to only aggravate Touka even more. "I remember you!" Touka snarled at her. "You're one of the ghouls who attacked us back in the 20th ward!"

"Touka-chan wait!" She turned towards Banjou as he followed her actions, taking off his mask and raising his hands in surrender. "We're here to save you!"

"Banjou?" Kurona felt relieved. At the very least she recognized him, maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad after all.

"I know it's crazy ok but…" He waved his hand rapidly obviously unsure of how to explain everything to her. "… Look a lot of things happened these past few days, but point is we with Anteiku now and we're here to get you and Rize-chan out of this place alright?!"

The three of them stood there on a tense standstill for a few moments. Banjou's words registering to Touka. As her guard remained stood at the two of them.

"How the hell do I know you're not lying? Last time I checked you two were part of this very organization." Touka questioned, obviously finding it hard to believe what he just said.

"Oh for the love of!" Kurona swore as she took out her ear piece and tossed it in front of Touka. "There!"

Touka then carefully picked up the ear piece, her eyes never leaving the two as she placed on her left ear.

"Kaya-san?!" Touka exclaimed once she put it on. "I'm alright."

Touka's face looked at them confused, but slowly came to an understanding. She and Irimi conversed for a few short moments. With Touka repeatedly telling her she was fine as she explained the events that happened to her during her stay here.

Irimi then explained everything to Touka. Her kagune died out as she approached them, handing back the earpiece given to her by Kurona.

Touka then turns towards Banjou and realizes the crystal embedded on his shoulder. "I'm sorry!" She exclaims, slowly approaching the injured man with regret.

"It's fine, it's fine – Agh!" He winces as he takes out the shard from his shoulder.

They watch in amazement as the wound began to heal and close up quickly. "I can take a lot of hits."

Touka then turned to face her, her eyes glaring at her as she did so. "I still don't trust you."

"I don't care." Kurona glared back. "I'm only here for my sister."

"Ladies ladies." Banjou but in, obviously trying to clear the tension in the air. "Let's not fight now."

As if in sync, the two turned their heads towards Banjou as he became the new target for their killer stares.

"So where do we go now?" Touka asks her with her arms crossed.

Kurona then turns her head towards the lone building that stood out above the rest. It had a spherical rooftop, and it was the building provided to Kanou for him to stay as it was meant to be turned into a makeshift lab.

"There."

The rest of the group turns their sights towards the building. Banjou seemed uneasy as he looked towards it. "Isn't that were Yamori tortures his victims?"

Kurona looks at him as a bad feeling began to creep up her chest. "Just the way Kanou likes it then." She begins to head up the flight of stairs. "We have to hurry."

"Wait!" She turns around as Touka called out for her with a worried expression on her face.

"Where's Kaneki?"

* * *

(Amon POV)

Amon panted, as sweat began to pour out from him.

He and Shinohara seemingly separated as they decided to split the squadron as they were ordered to provide support for the squads who were overpowered by numbers.

Before him several of Aogiri's ghouls lay on the ground having been taken out by his squad.

He finds Akira standing there in full uniform. He had to admit she was quite skilled especially with her quinque.

He was rather surprised at first to find her wielding a chimera quinque, that surprise shifted into impressed as she danced around with it, having taken out many of the ghouls around them.

She turned to him and he watched as she approached him. He was just about to say something when one of their squad mates screamed as gunfire began to rain down.

Amon turned towards where he was shooting and his eyes widened as he spotted a figure baring a very similar kagune running through the flight of stairs followed by two other ghouls.

 _Rabbit._

Amon's face then turned furious, as he gripped his quinque, beginning pursuit on the ghoul.

"Amon wait!" He heard Akira call from behind him but he ignored it, finding the chase leading to a footbridge that connected the two buildings.

The three ghouls were at the end of the hallway but before he could continue chase he was for to take a few steps back as two ghouls stood before him, both wearing similar Aogiri attire and white masks with red markings etched on them.

He heard footsteps from behind him and found Akira catching up to him, holding her quinque as she shifted her eyes towards the two ghouls that blocked their way.

"Who were those ghouls?" He heard one of the ghouls say.

"Doesn't matter, we have to deal with these two first."

Two pairs of sharp bladed kagunes then emerged from their backs. Both having a distinct blue hue to them.

"The Bin brothers…" Amon muttered to himself, recognizing the kagunes from the information they managed to gather from Aogiri.

These two were marked as S class ghouls. Amon nervously held Kura on his hands, realizing that they were in a very unfortunate situation and found it to be a dangerous encounter especially for him and Akira.

S class ghouls were the type that you would send the very best to take care off. And right now Amon doubted if he qualified to face the two opponents. He shouldn't have rushed in like that and just stuck with his squad. Now he brought Akira in danger because of his reckless decisions.

The two pairs eyed each other down. Akira readying her dagger-like kagune while Amon held Kura with both hands.

The Bin brothers moved quickly and Amon and Akira followed after. He and Akira silently picked off each other's targets.

Half-expecting the two to split, Amon slammed his quinque down towards his target but was then forced to dodge, as a kagune tore through the air above him.

 _These two… They're only targeting him!_

The Bin brothers were relentless in their assault. His large lone quinque was barely keeping up with the ghoul brother's coordinated attack on him.

He was forced to his knees as the Aogiri executives simultaneously cut through his legs. He felt death near him as they readied their kagunes to finish him off when they were forced back by Akira as she switched her quinque into a whip.

The two ghouls were set back once again as Akira began to assault them once more. Striking at them repeatedly while maintaining a safe distance with her quinque.

Amon eyed her, obviously impressed by her abilities as she seemed to come into a dance, twirling around with such skill and proficiency.

The bin brothers realizing that they couldn't approach her, stepped back, and brought themselves into a stance. As if they were waiting for something.

Amon widened his eyes realizing what they were planning. "Akira wait!" He screamed, but it was too late.

As she brought her quinque towards them, one of the brothers used his kagune to stop her quinque in its tracts and in one swift motion, the other tore it in half with his own.

Akira looked shocked, realizing that she now stood there disarmed, as the threat began to approach her.

She quickly turned her gaze to Amon as if her life depended on it. "Amon!" She screamed at him. "Kura's ability… Use it!"

Amon's eyes lit up in realization. Screaming at the top of his lungs as the adrenaline surged throughout his body, picking himself up despite the pain in his legs.

He stood between the bin brothers and Akira, bringing his grip towards Kura and in one fell swoop split the quinque.

The Bin brothers then danced around him, making it hard for him to focus on one target.

Then one of them jumped with his kagune raised as twisted his body for it to meet Amon.

He then spun around, using his left arm, meeting the ghoul's attack forcing him to be carried by his own momentum as Amon used his free arm to slice to the ghoul's face bringing him down.

The other one took a step back, screaming in surprise at his brother's demise. Amon turned to face him, not giving him time to garner his thoughts as he dove towards him, bringing Kura down to cut through the ghoul's body.

As his body dropped to the ground Amon lay there panting, feeling his body shake as the adrenaline began to leave his system.

"You did it…" He looked to find Akira's surprised face.

He did it… He managed to take down two S class ghouls…

He smiled in relief. "Yeah we-"

Amon was cut short as he felt the air get knocked out of him as he skid through the ground landing next to Akira.

He felt the quinque no longer in his grip as he turned around to find them on the ground where he once stood.

"Shit." He mutters to himself, not expecting the surprise attack that came at him from behind.

He then felt the ground below him explode as a kagune burst out to the air and wrap itself around his neck, keeping him on the ground.

He tries his best to remove it but found his efforts useless as the kagune's grip was far too strong for him to do anything.

He turns his head and his eyes begin to widen as he finds a ghoul fully clad in black standing where he once stood. A menacing toothy grin spread throughout his face as his lone kakugan glowed red in the dim light.

"Eyepatch…"

Quickly Amon turns to Akira and finds her there shaking, gripping her broken quinque hard as she readied herself.

"Akira get out of here!" He screamed.

He watched helplessly as Akira stood between him and Eyepatch. "No!" She put on a brave face as she glared down the ghoul. "I have some questions for you."  
The eyepatch ghoul didn't respond and just stood there as he began to slowly walk towards them.

"Why did you save that investigator back in the 20th ward?!" Her hands began to shake as he slowly neared her.

Amon violently tried to remove the kagune wrapped around him, screaming as he clawed at the thing wrapped around his neck.

He faced the Eyepatch ghoul before and the ghoul was powerful. More powerful than the two Bin brothers combined. If he decided to fight them, with their broken weapons or not, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"Akira get out of here now!" He pleaded.

"Answer me!" Akira screamed pointing her broken quinque at him ignoring Amon's plea.

The ground below her exploded and a crimson kagune burst from the ground, right behind Akira and brought her straight to the floor.

"No!" Amon screamed, watching helplessly as Akira gets taken out.

She hits the ground head first. Panic began to make its way to Amon as he claws through the kagune around his neck.

 _At the very least he doesn't seem to be interested in harming Akira any further._

His heart began to ring at his ears, he could hear the footsteps nearing him, slowly echoing through the empty bridge.

"Because It was the right thing to do." Amon's eyes widened in surprise as he heard the Eyepatch ghoul's response.

Before he could question him any further he turned around only to find the Eyepatch gone.

He then heard footsteps approach them from the stairs as their squad began to meet up with them.

"Are you alright?!" One of them called out to him, he recognized it as Keshi. "We were suddenly approached by a lot of them down there, fortunately we were able to take them out with only some injuries."

One of them struck down on the kagune with his quinque, being careful not to accidentally take Amon out.

"Is she ok?" Another one asked, finding Akira unconscious on the floor.

"Yeah." He said as his eyes shifted on where his quinque was supposed to be.

Only to find it in pieces as its parts lay about the ground.

Amon clenches his teeth and brings his hadn to his comm link. " _Shinohara-san. He's here, the eyepatch is here."_

* * *

(Shinohara POV)

The operation was going in the CCG's favor.

The information provided to them was accurate and spot on, they managed to pass through the CCG, intercepting their defenses and efficiently making their way as they exterminated the Aogiri ghouls.

He made his way through the flight of stairs, followed by his squad as they began to make their way towards the rooftop.

The rooftop was eerily silent. Shinohara and his men looked left and right, obviously uneasy about the absence of any Aogiri ghouls.

His comm link suddenly burst to life. " _Shinohara-san. "_ It was Amon's voice, and by the sound of it he seemed to be injured. _"He's here, the eyepatch is here."_

Screams were suddenly heard from behind him as he finds several of his men on the ground wailing in pain, as blood began to leak from their wounds.

Shinohara turns to his partner and they both activate their kagunes, as they looked around their surroundings, as the looming threat resided around them.

Suddenly smoke burst from below them hiding their vision. Screams and cries surrounded them and Shinohara grit his teeth as he stood in his position.

"Group towards my voice!" He screams and he finds his men following as he instructs grouping together as they waited for the smoke to clear.

Shinohara clicked his tongue. "So he's killing now huh."

Many of his men were on the ground. And the rest of them panted as they looked around anxiously, trying their best not to get taken out.

When the smoke cleared, a dark figure stood meters away from them. His kagune was spread from behind him to his side. And on his right he wielded a bloody quinque, which he recognized as Mado's lost one.

 _"_ _Marude."_ Shinohara speaks towards his ear piece. " _It's Eyepatch."_

An eerily silence decorated the link for a few moments as the smoke began to disperse into the air. " _Do whatever it takes to take him out."_

Shinohara then extends his arm out, signaling for his men to fire.

As he did so, the remainder of his men pointed their ranged quinques towards Eyepatch.

"Fire!"

* * *

(Rize POV)

Rize could only watch, stunned as Nashiro stood with all her sheer will.

The girl was broken, beaten, and bleeding everywhere. Even a ghoul couldn't handle bearing all those wounds and continue to stand. And yet there she was, lifting herself up on her will alone.

Rize struggled against her restraints, finding it difficult to move as her strength slowly began to fade away, not been given even water while she was held captive by these freaks.

Her only hope was for the bloodied and beaten girl before her to set her free. A hope which seemed to be dwindling as she was sure as hell that the girl was going to die anytime soon.

It was foolish of her even to stand up despite all those injuries, what hope did she wish to accomplish against the ghoul who can obviously overpower her?

At the very least her words sunk into the poor girl. She had to admit, it was rather difficult as she was only familiar with twisting men with her words but it was satisfying to see the girl come to her senses finally.

"Ku…" Nashiro spoke up, wobbling in her steps as she began to walk towards Yamori, leaving a trail of blood on her way. "Kurona…"

Yamori gave a maniacal laugh seemingly enjoying the sight before him. Rize had to admit that she enjoyed playing with her prey before her life went to shit, but this…

Yamori grabbed hold of the girls practically red hair from all the blood stained on her white locks.

… This was just psychopathic; it was mere insanity.

The sadistic ghoul then begins beating Nashiro repeatedly. The sound of bones breaking echoed the room. Nashiro's cries started to become more feint and without a doubt if this continued anymore she would die.

Nashiro was thrown into the ground as Yamori brought his face close to hers and began to lick the blood that leaked from the wounds that covered her head.

"Amazing!" The torturer leaned back, his eyes rolling at the top of his head as if he was in pure ecstasy. "You may be a ghoul but you taste just like a human! No! Even better."

Giving into his hunger, Yamori's eyes turn black as his kagune emerges from his back. "I think you'd make just the nice meal for me tonigh-"

Moonlight seared through the room as the ceiling above them broke down as three figures descended from the wreckage.

Yamori was sent flying away from Nashiro, by a crimson kagune resembling her own.

"Get away from my sister, you sick fuck." Standing in front of Nashiro was a figure clad in black, baring a similar appearance towards the beaten girl on the ground.

"Ku-Kurona…" Nashiro said weakly, tears leaked down from her eyes as she stares into her eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my meal!" Yamori said deranged, his hunger beginning to succumb to him, as he tears off his white suit.

Yamori then comes to a charge but was suddenly stopped as a hailstorm of crystallized RC cells were launched towards him, all of which hitting its mark.

Rize could only stare dumbfounded as she watched as Touka landed unto the ground, being the one responsible for the attack.

 _Touka with Kurona?! What the hell! Does that mean-_

Suddenly Rize felt the bonds that kept her restrained lose as she succumbed to the sudden change in weight but was stopped as a pair of hands grabbed her before she could hit the floor.

"Rize-chan." Rize turned to see a face that she didn't know that she would see again.

Banjou gave her a smile. Having been the one to release her from the restraints. "Don't worry, Anteiku is here."

 _Anteiku._

"You-" She said dryly, not been given the taste of water for days. "You're with Anteiku?"

Banjou nodded his head. "Yes, and we came to get you back."  
Rize stared at him not believing what he just told her. Anteiku really did come for her then that meant… Kaneki was here too.

"Banjou-san!" Kurona called, holding an injured Nashiro in her arms. Worry and panic painted her face. "Please! Help her!"

"I'll do my best." Banjou then carefully sets Rize down, as he takes Nashiro from Kurona's arms.

His kagune emerges from his back, piercing through his shirt. It then began to glow, and Rize watched in amazement as Nashiro's wounds then bagan to patch itself together.

Kurona then turned her attention back towards Yamori, who was being held off by Touka. Her kagune flailed as she screamed at the ghoul responsible for this and charged directly towards him.

Yamori, not expecting Kurona to join the fight, screamed in pain as Kurona pierced through his chest.

Together the two she-ghouls worked in tandem, trading blows towards Yamori who was kept in place unable to move at the continuous onslaught given to him by the two of them.

But despite their relentless attacks, the behemoth of a ghoul stood firm. His injuries healing quickly due to his regenerative abilities.

Rize then looked towards the pile of bodies that lay scattered about. She then began to make her way towards them, knowing that she only had one option to regain her strength.

She heard Banjou call out to her but she ignored it. Anger slowly built up inside her and pushed her forward as memories of the past few months echoed through her mind.

 _I will not be weak again!_

* * *

(Kaneki POV)

 _This was it it was now or never._

"Fire!"

Kaneki pierced his kagune into the ground. It molded itself shaping it to a quinque he both awed and feared.

Bullets and weaponized organic matter met his kagune, he shifted its density preventing anything to come passed him.

He stood there unmoving, taunting the investigators, showing them who had power between them.

Shinohara and Iwao both had a surprised look on their faces as they recognized the shape his kagune formed.

 _IXA's defensive mode._

His veins rung as his kagune embeds itself deeper into the ground digging through the very structure of the building itself, and emerging along the line of investigators that opened fire at him.

Their screams reverberated the night sky as they were all taken out in one fell swoop.

 _That takes care of their range._

He heard footsteps from his sides as a dove wielding a polearm quinque charged to his left. Kaneki raised Izuki to his side, blocking the attack as sparks flew as the two quinques met.

From the corner of his eye another investigator came charging towards him with the intent to cleave him in half.

Kaneki kicked the polearm wielder away from him, and quickly coming to a spin as he met the other investigator before he could reach him.

The investigator retaliated as he began to send Kaneki a flurry of strikes which he met blow for blow.

Kaneki had to admit, he was good and quick with a sword but he didn't have time for such swordplay. He sent a kick that made the investigator stumble backwards and with a flick of a switch Izuki extended itself piercing through his shoulder bringing him to the ground.

The remaining investigators screamed in anger as another one of their men fell. They then charged at him in unison, and Kaneki met them one by one.

He kept his distance, not allowing any of the doves to outnumber him, making sure that they couldn't come at him with any coordinated attacks.

Kaneki fought them with technique that they've ever seen before, using his skill with a quinque and the raw power brought to him by his kagune.

One by one more of the doves dropped to the ground as he fought them relentlessly with speeds that they could not keep up with.

"Men stand down!" Shinohara ordered panting as another dove fell by Kaneki's hand. "He's too strong, don't waste your lives goddammit!"

Immediately the rest of the doves stopped their attacked and regrouped behind Shinohara and Iwao, dragging their injured comrades away from him as they did so.

Kaneki stood there and observed silently, with no intention to come after them. His task was to stall and keep the main force of the CCG at bay and he only had to keep up this act until the bombs began to set off.

But until then, he would take his time, bringing all of the CCG'S eyes on him.

Shinohara pauses as he touches his ear piece, most probably speaking to Marude as he awaited orders regarding their situation.

"Men." Shinohara calls out what remained of them. "Eyepatch is now an SS+ target, therefore all but me and Iwao are qualified enough to face him you understand?!"

"I never thought it would come to this." Iwao looked at Shinohara, placing his hand on his chest.

"It appears so." Shinohara said, flicking a switch as a quinque began to encompass them.

Kaneki narrowed his eyes at the two, already familiar with what they just unleashed, having encountered it several times during his past life.

 _Aratas._

* * *

 _(Rize POV)_

Yamori screamed, grabbing Touka in midair as she was about to lay another hailstorm at him. She was then slammed to the ground, before being picked up and being thrown towards Kurona who were both thrown into the wall.

Yamori's kagune then began to mutate, slowly spreading all throughout his body as his clothes began to tear as his muscle mass began to grow.

 _A kakuja…_

Rize looks at Yamori in surprise, and then moves her gaze towards the pile of bodies below her. Now she really had no choice, she closes her eyes for a moment opening them as she drives her hand through the ghoul's body tearing out its kakuhou.

She then slowly brought it to her lips, ignoring the foul smell it gave out and began to eat through it.

The taste was foul and disgusting, but she endured it, knowing that it was the only way that she could recover her strength.

Jason then turns his attention back towards Nashiro, who was being carried bridal style by Banjou as he healed her wounds.

Banjou slowly began to step backwards, trying to distance himself away from Yamori as much as possible.

" **Nashiro!** " Yamori screams, charging towards Banjou.

Kurona runs towards Yamori, using her kagune to hold him by the mass of RC cells that began to spread throughout his body.

Touka held her arm to the side, as it laid limp broken from her impact earlier. She rained down crystals on the half-kakuja which served useless as the thick layer of RC cells shielded him.

Kurona is pushed back as the brute force Yamori exhibited began to overpower her. Kurona's eyes widened as she was yanked towards Yamori as his kagune began to envelop her, and with one fell swoop sent her skidding through the ground.

He raised his kagune pointed straight towards Banjou and Nashiro, his face barely recognizable as frenzied rage began to overlap him.

Before he could strike, crimson tendrils began to wrap itself around his kagune stopping him in his tracks.

Rize stood there, her face and her clothes were stained in blood. Behind her, four crimson tendrils manifested on her back.

Yamori then turns his attention to her, momentarily stunned by her appearance as he screams in rage.

" **YOU!** " He screams as he begins charging towards her. " **RIZE! I REMEMBER YOU!** "

"I'm flattered."

The two ghouls then begin to trade blows. Yamori's strength was overpowering but Rize brought back with her own.

Rize danced around Yamori, landing hits all throughout his body. She felt the rush as her strength began to return to her.

Kurona then came towards them, sliding right below Yamori as she pierced her kagune straight through his leg forcing him to his knee.

Yamori tried to grab her but was stopped as Touka shot her kagune towards his exposed arm.

Kurona then soared through the air, her kagune raised as she brought it down right at his skull slamming him to the ground.

The ground around Yamori exploded as he was slammed into it. The behemoth of a man fell flat on his chest, blood beginning to pool around him from the wounds that decorated his body.

He began to move, trying to pick himself up but Rize didn't let him. She brought her kagune to the man's right arm, right were much of the kagune mass was. In one swift and painful motion, she tore through the kakuja, ripping it from his body, causing Yamori to scream in pain.

Kurona then walks towards Yamori, slowly moving her kagune over his body, letting him watch her in fear as she aims it at the back of his skull.

"This is for my sister, you son of a bitch."

Yamori's eyes wildly looked at her and her kagune, tears began to leak from them as he looked at the pleadingly. "No please don't!"

In one motion, Kurona dove her kagune straight through Yamori's skull finally ending him as his body lay limp motionless.

The tension around the group then dissipated as the lone threat lay on the ground lifeless.

But for some reason, Rize felt uneasy as if they were forgetting one important detail that seemed to be missing from the picture.

 _Wait._

Rize's eyes then snapped and looked around the room, realizing that through all the chaos there was one thing she forgot.

"Kanou… He's gone."

 _(Kaneki POV)_

 _Aratas._

Kaneki grit his teeth. The battle escalated into something that became far worse and he knew he couldn't hold back anymore. If there was one thing he learned it was that he could never underestimate an Arata.

It was time for him to fight like the One Eyed King he was crowned to be.

"Let's go!" Shinohara screams as both him and Iwao charge towards him. Their quinques leaving a trail of light as they seemed to blaze in fury.

Kaneki trades blows with the two special class investigators. Using his kagune to keep them off his reach, as he parried each of their blows with his quinque.

The three were put into a stalemate as matching each other blow for blow. Each fighting with more ferocity with each blow. Kaneki's blood boiled as he began to fight with more tenacity than he has ever fought ever since he was brought back.

 _If there was one thing that Arata had the disadvantage of it was that it slowly ate away the wearer's life force._

As if on queue Shinohara was brought to his knees as the strain of using the Arata added to their intense fight was too much for him to bare.

Kaneki then spun around and knocked the investigator away from him, leaving him alone to face Iwao.

A scream was heard from the distance, Kaneki momentarily turning his eyes at a wounded investigator on the ground, pointing an assault rifle straight towards him.

Gunfire echoed, tearing through the air forcing Kaneki to dodge the hail of bullets making their way to him.

Iwao uses this opportunity as he raises his shield-like quinque and brings it down straight to him.

Kaneki not having enough time uses his quinque to parry the blow in a panicked hurry, which served consequential as Izuki was sent flying upwards from the sheer force of the attack.

Knowing he didn't have time to spare, Kaneki leapt backwards, using his kagune to further distance himself away from the two investigators.

His quinque reflected the moonlight from the distance. He was now at a disadvantage against them. Despite the sheer raw power his kagune possessed, it was far too weak unless he could afford to turn himself into a kakuja.

 _An option which he couldn't afford._

Kaneki brought his kagune down in front of him, shaping it as blades as he detached them from his kakuhou making himself a makeshift quinque.

He looked towards the two investigators and they both looked at each other with acknowledgement. Respecting the sheer skill that they both possessed.

This time Kaneki charged towards his opponents, closing the distance at breakneck speeds before launching himself into the air as he slammed his kagune straight towards Iwao who did all he can to hold him off with his quinque.

Cracks started to form and Kaneki withdrew his attack landing on top of Iwao's kagune with his makeshift quinque ready to strike but was forced to dodge as Shinohara swung his giant meat cleaver at him.

Kaneki switched his target and began to focus on Shinohara, sending him a flurry of strikes not giving him time to recover in a manner that would make even Arima proud.

Kaneki screamed as he began to fight with such ferocity, overpowering the two special classes as both their Arata and quinques began to crack.

Iwao swung Kuroiwa at him and Kaneki met the blow with his own and a large chunk of Iwao's quinque broke off while Kaneki's makeshift weapons shattered.

He then turns behind him and uses his kagune to grab Izuki deeply embedded into the ground and brings it into an arc landing a critical hit straight towards Iwao.

"Iwao!" Shinohara screams as he grabs his comrade before he could fall.

The ground then explodes from beneath them, shaking the very foundation of the complex as explosions began to ring from all around them.

Metal cried out and Kaneki's head turned towards the large metal pole that stretched to the sky began to bend,

Kaneki's eyes widen, watching the piece of construction descend, heading straight for the two downed investigators.

Not having enough time to get them out of the way. Kaneki brings his kagune deep into the ground as it exploded outward between the falling pillar and the investigators, keeping it at bay as large crimson tendrils wrapped themselves around it, giving Shinohara and Iwao enough time to move out of the way.

Already Kaneki felt his head lighten as the action took a large toll on him. The ground shook once more as the building began to slowly collapse and Kaneki eyed the special classes one more time before escaping through the chaos.

* * *

Kaneki limps as he began to slowly make his way back to Anteiku's rendezvous point deep in the forest.

He silently laughs to himself, recalling him doing the exact same thing in one of his past memories.

This was the point in his life where he told himself that if he was ever he was given a second chance to redo, he would.

And like some cruel joke made by whatever deity ruled the heavens, that was exactly what happened to him.

He recalled the countless dreams he had of him taking this one regret away from his life. Of having experienced the love he felt in Anteiku even for just a few moments.

Then he's sees them.

Touka… Tsukiyama, Hinami, the manager, Yomo, Kaya, even Koma. This time Banjou was there too, along with Rize and the twins. All of them laid there as snow fell from the sky.

It was like a dream really…

If ever this was a dream he made up in his last moments he wished it would stay like this forever.

He felt his weight give out as he succumbs to his injuries and fatigue. Before he could fall Touka catches him before the rest of his body can hit the ground as she helps him support his weight on his knees.

He feels her warm touch and Kaneki feels the heat rise to his cheeks. A small smile creeps its way up to his face as he gazes upon Touka's eyes as beautiful as he remembered them to be.

"I'm sorry." Kaneki lowers his head in shame. "I'm so sorry Touka-chan. I'm so sorry everyone."

Touka then kneels down next to Kaneki, he half expected her to punch him right at the jaw but instead finds himself between her arms. He felt his cheeks redden at her sudden display of affection.

"You idiot…" Touka says as she burries her face on his shoulder. "I was so worried about you… "

She pulls out of the hug and he was met with her smiling face as a lone tear slid down her cheek. "I forgive your stupid ass Bakaneki, we all do."

He felt weight crash into him as Hinami came running towards him enveloping him in a hug as she does so. "Onii-chan!" Hinami said, her voice etched with relief as she said so.

"You're family too Kaneki."

A tear streams down Kaneki's face as he looks at each and every one of Anteiku's faces, a sense of nostalgia crept through his chest recalling a similar moment that happened in another life.

It was then when he swore that he wouldn't let this second chance go to waste, that he would do whatever he can to protect his family.

To protect Anteiku.

* * *

Her plans failed… Things didn't go as she planned them to be.

The CCG came in far earlier than she had estimated them to arrive. And because of that, they weren't able to carry out their other mission, they weren't able to set hell loose on Cochlea.

Bandages began to fall slowly as she began to strip herself of her disguise, showing the bare creamy skin and curly green locks that hid underneath.

She laughed despite how unsuccessful things turned out to be. At the very least something interesting came out of this event, she had to thank Tatara for bringing her back something interesting despite his shortcomings.

A simple picture lay resting on a tabletop. It was a picture of a raven haired boy next to another with dirty blonde hair.

It seemed that there was someone who seemed to be bringing the CCG into a twist maybe even more so than Aogiri.

She placed her finger at the image, gently moving her finger over the raven-haired person on it.

"I can't wait to meet you again Kaneki-kun."

End of Act I

* * *

 _ **Happy Holidays to all of you! I hope you're all having a great Christmas!**_

 _ **Well ain't this the longest chapter that I've ever written, I mean have you guys ever seen the scroll bar that small when you read the past chapters in this fic? Now I put a lot of work into this, as I basically made (based on my old shitty progress) months worth of work in a month. I have to admit I wanted to post this chapter around the time TG:re anime would officially end no matter how disappointing it was. I still wanted to give you guys something nice in honor of TG.**_

 _ **Thank you so much everyone! When I started this fic I never expected it to reach to numbers that high I mean cmon 1k followers? Damn I think that's more than I'll ever make in any social media site in my entire life. And to ya'll that review, thanks a hella you guys are the best.**_

 _ **I know some of you guys hated the last chapter because things didn't turn out well for Kaneki, and I'm not really surprised, I'm well aware people love it when they ready a fic with a near perfect character but just to let you guys know as evidenced by the last chapter this is not one of those fics.**_

 _ **When I think about how I'd play out this story I focus more on what I think will happen if things turned out this way. Sure I like to add things that I like to add but I really want this fic to be a what if things turned out this way kind of fic.**_

 _ **Not saying I didn't appreciate the criticism you guys gave. I still appreciate those, they make me improve a lot. And I'm sure you guys could tell how much my writing has evolved since I started this.**_

 _ **Well everyone it's been one hell of a journey. And I have to say this one last time thank you all for staying with me waiting for the next update. It really makes me feel great knowing that there are people out there awaiting my work. And to you guys, this long ass chapter is for you. I decided to just end the Aogiri arc here and there because it didn't feel right to split it into a cliffhanger.**_

 _ **Thank you everyone! Please review!**_

 ** _P.S This chapter has not yet been edited by my beta since she practically swore at me once she saw how long it was. This note will go away once it has, if you guys notice any typos and errors, please feel free to leave a review or privately message me._**

 ** _Disclaimer: Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui_**


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